!  Mimtmmmattimtmmitimwm iwwii .  imitmmmmitfmimrm <iii<»<iMwwiniwni>ai  j  ] .1  ] » i 


m»irAf(^y>K<yyiwxi^y^j^ 


wjj»jwi>i>jiw ij»mj  jjjmi 


'y^-.rM^m^iff^rf^t^.'^^j'jVj;', 


MASSACHUSETTS 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT 


Fltwn  JONES' 
BOOK  STORE, 

LOS  ANGELES. 


In  the  admmistratio7i  of  a  State,  neither  a 
womati  as  a  woman,  nor  a  man  as  a  man,  has 
any  special  function,  but  the  gifts  are  equally 
diffused  iit  both  sexes.  *  *  *  One  wojnan 
has  the  gift  of  healing,  another  not;  one  is  a 
musician,  another  not  a  musician;  one  woman  is 
a  philosopher,  and  another  is  a?t  enemy  to  phi' 
losophy.  *  *  The  same  education  ajid  opportu- 
nity for  self- develop 77ient  which  makes  man  a 
good  guardian  {or  7'uler)  will  make  woman  a 
good  guardia7i    (or    ruler) ;    for    their    original 

nature  is  the  same. 

Plato,  Rep.  B.   V, 


MASSACHUSETTS  ,,  .  , 

IN    THE  \\'*0 

Mi 
Woman  Suffrage  Movement. 


A   GENERAL,  POLITICAL,  LEGAL   AND    LEGISLATIVE 
HISTORY   FROM    1 774,    TO    1 88 1. 


'  BY 

HARRIET  H.  ROBINSONj 


The  woman's  hour  has  struck. — "Warrington." 


BOSTON: 

ROBERTS  BROTHERS 

1881. 


"^-P^  I 


Copyright,  i88r, 

BV 

ROBERTS    BROTHERS. 


TO 

THE  rOUNG  WOMEN  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 

WHO  ENJOY  THE  FRUITS   OF  THE  LABORS  OF  THOSE 
WHOSE  NAMES  ARE   RECORDED   IN  THESE  PAGES 

I  g^btc^ttij  tijis  §ooIi 

WITH   THE    HOPE   THAT    SINCE    THEY  FIND   THE    PATH    SO 

WELL   OPENED   TO  THEM    FOR   BETTER   EDUCATIONAL, 

SOCIAL,    AND    POLITICAL    ADVANTAGES,    THEY 

MAY   BEAR   IN    MIND    HOW    MUCH 

THE  WOMAN'S   RIGHTS   MOVEMENT 

HAS    DONE   TO    CLEAR   THE    WAY. 


CONTENTS 


Chapter.  Page. 

Intkoduction ix 

I.    General    History  —  Early    Influences       .      i 
II.    Ten  Great  Conventions.     1850 — 1860     .      .    20 

III.  The  Machinery  of  Conventions    i860 — 1881  41 

IV.  Political  History.     1870 — 1S80      .        .       .    68 
V.    Legal  and   Legislative  History  .        .       .90 

VI.    Results  of  Thirty  Years  of  Agitation      .  128 

APPENDIX. 

A.  "Observations  ON  THE  Rights  of  Women"   .  189 

B.  The  World's  Anti-Slavery  Convention       .  191 

C.  The  Lowell  Offering  and  its  Writers     .  195 

D.  The  First  National  Convention         .        .  208 

E.  Harriot  K.  Hunt's  Protest  ....  214 

F.  Women's  Meetings  held  by  Mrs.  Caroline 

Healey  Dall 218 

G.  Three  Middles'ex  County  Conventions     .    219 
H.    The  Commemorative  Convention  of  1880     .    228 

I.    Voting  Laws  relating  to  Women        .        .  230 

J.    Early  Legislative  Hearings        .         .        .  232 

K.    Massachusetts  School  Suffrage  Law        .  239 

L.    Three  Decisions  of  the  Supreme  Judicial 

Court  of  Massachusetts  against  the 

Rights  of  the  Women  of  the  State     .  241 

M.    Lucy  Downing  and  Harvard  College       .  246 

N.    The  Isle  of  Man 250 

Index .  253 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  writing  of  this  book  has  been  a  labor  of 
love ;  and  I  publish  it  in  the  hope  that  it  may  be 
found  useful  as  a  book  of  reference,  and  also, 
that  it  may  help  to  keep  the  memory  green  of 
some  of  the  earlier  workers  in  the  Woman's 
Rights  Movement. 

When  writing  upon  certain  phases  of  this 
question,  I  have  often  been  very  much  hampered 
for  want  of  authentic  data  upon  which  to  base 
my  statements.  The  cyclopaedias  say  compara- 
tively little,  an'd  there  is  no  book  of  reference 
that  enters  into  details  on  this  subject.  The  need 
of  such  a  book  has  no  doubt  been  felt  by  others 
as  well  as  by  myself,  and  I  sincerely  hope  that, 
so  far  as  it  goes,  this  work  will  supply  that  need. 

In  1870,  when  I  began  to  work  for  woman 
suffrage,  I  found  in  the  ranks,  many  earnest.men 
and  women  who  had  labored  long  in  the  weedy 
field  of  this  reform.  There  were  also,  dim  tra- 
ditions of  otliers  whose  names  were  half  forgotten 
and  the  memory  of  whose  services  was  fast 
becoming  obliterated.  A  reformer  is  the  Rip 
Van  Winkle  in  the  history  of   his  time.     If  he 


INTRODUCTION. 


leaves  the  procession,  remains  inactive  for  a 
period  of  years,  or  dies,  he  and  his  work  are 
very  soon  forgotten.  Already,  the  names  of 
many  of  those  who  helped  to  lead  the  anti- 
slavery  movement  are  to  be  found  only  in  dusty 
reports  or  files  of  old  newspapers.  Without  an 
authentic  record  of  the  woman  suffrage  move- 
ment, the  coming  generation  might  in  a  similar 
way  forget  its  early  workers. 

In  presenting  the  part  Massachusetts  has 
taken,  I  have  described  its  aspect  as  one  who 
sees  a  landscape  from  a  height — the  general  effect 
has  been  given,  instead  of  minute  details  upon 
single  points.  I  have  not  dwelt  upon  individual 
action,  nor  made  a  record  of  the  work  done  by 
the  leaders,  since  this  is  the  province  of  the 
biographer  rather  than  that  of  the  historian.  I 
should  gladly  have  devoted  some  space  to  the 
doctrine  of  woman's  rights,  as  expounded  by 
those  whose  names  are  found  in  these  pages ; 
but  within  the  limits  of  this  book  it  would  have 
been  impossible  to  do  justice  to  such  authors  or 
to  such  a  theme. 

My  sources  of  information  have  been,  carefully 
preserved  reports  of  meetings  ;  legislative  docu- 
ments and  records;  "Warrington's"  letters  and 
writings  in  the  Springfield  Repuhlica7i,  New  York 
Tribune^  and  other  newspapers;  letters  from* 
friends  of  the  cause  from  all  parts  of  the 
country,  and  the  personal  reminiscences  of  old- 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

time  workers.  To  all  the  friends  who  have  aided 
me  in  collecting  material,  I  desire  to  express  my 
thanks.  I  am  especially  grateful  to  Louisa  M. 
Alcott  and  Wendell  Phillips  for  their  encourage- 
ment, and  sympathy  with  my  work ;  also  to 
Frank  B.  Sanborn  and  Samuel  E.  Sewall,  who  have 
kindly  helped  me  in  the  revision  of  my  proofs, 
and  thus  secured  for  these  pages,  technical  and 
legal  accuracy. 

H.  H.  R. 


Toiling^ —  rejoicing, —  sorrowifig. 
Onward  through  life  he  goes ; 

Each  viorjiing  sees  some  task  begun^ 
Each  evoiing  sees  it  close; 

Something  atte?7tpted,  something  done^ 
Has  earned  a  nighfs  repose. 

— Longfellow. 


MASSACHUSETTS 


IN    THE 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GENERAL   HISTORY  —  EARLY   INFLUENCES. 
1774— 1850. 

We  want  powder,  but  by  the   blessing  of  Heaven  we 
fear  them  not.  Abigail  Adams,  in  1774. 

TN  this  brief  history  of  the  Woman  Suffrage 
Movement  in  Massachusetts,  will  be  found  a 
record  of  the  distant  and  surrounding  causes 
which  brought  the  reform  into  successful  exist- 
ence, with  some  mention  of  the  names  of  those 
men  and  women  who,  long  before  the  date  of  the 
first  Woman's  Rights  Convention,  listened  and 
responded  to  this  new  cry  for  life. 

The  earliest  voice  heard  was  that  of   Abigail 


8  MASSACHUSETTS  IN   TITE 

Adams,  wife  of  our  first  President  Adams,  who, 
in  a  letter  written  to  lier  husband,  in  1774,  at  the 
time  the  First  Continental  Congress  met  in  Phila- 
adelphia,  said  :  "  In  the  new  code  of  laws  *  * 
I  desire  you  would  remember  the  ladies,  and  be 
more  generous  and  favorable  to  them  than  your 
ancestors.  Do  not  put  such  unlimited  power  in 
the  hands  of  the  husbands.  Remember,  all  men 
would  be  tyrants  if  they  could.  If  particular 
care  and  attention  is  not  paid  to  the  ladies,  we 
are  determined  to  foment  a  rebellion,  and  will 
not  hold  ourselves- bound  by  any  laws  in  which 
we  have  no  voice  or  representation."  Was  not 
this  a  prophetic  word  ?  and  though  spoken  half 
playfully  by  one  who,  perhaps,  would  not  have 
confessed  how  serious  the  matter  was  with  her, 
to-day,  after  an  interval  of  more  than  a  century, 
it  contains  the  gist  of  the  whole  Woman's  Rights 
Movement. 

After  the  Constitution  was  framed,  the  women 
who  had  done  and  sacrificed  so  much  for  the 
country,  in  the  War  of  Independence,  having 
been  left  out,  Mrs.  Adams  wrote  again  to  her  hus- 
band in  gentle  warning   words :    "  I  cannot  say 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.  9 

that  I  think  you  are  very  generous  to  the  ladies, 
for,  while  you  are  proclaiming  peace  and  good 
will  to  all  men,  emancipating  all  nations,  you 
insist  upon  retaining  absolute  power  over  wives. 
But  you  must  remember,  that  absolute  power,  like 
most  other  things  which  are  very  bad,  is  most 
likely  to  be  broken."  Our  first  President  Adams, 
in  his  attitude  towards  this  subject,  is  an  example 
of  the  sort  of  statesman,  or  legislator,  described 
by  his  wife  in  one  of  her  later  letters  :  "  He  who 
is  most  strenuous  for  the  rights  of  the  people, 
when  vested  with  power,  is  as  eager  after  the 
prerogatives  of  government." 

Mercy  Otis  Warren,  sister  of  the  fiery  patriot, 
James  Otis,  was  a  staunch  advocate  of  the 
"  inherent  rights  "  of  all  the  citizens  of  the  new 
republic.  She  was  the  first  woman  to  make  use 
of  this  celebrated  phrase,  and  to  assert  that 
*' inherent  rights  belonged  to  all  mankind,  and 
had  been  conferred  on  all  by  the  God  of  nations." 
In  18 18,  Hannah  Mather  Crocker,  grand-daugh- 
ter of  Cotton  Mather,  published  a  book,  called 
"  Observations  on  the  Rights  of  Women."  *    After 

*  See  Appendix  A. 


lO  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

this  date,  and  until  1828,  there  is  no  record  to  be 
found,  of  any  public  expression  here  upon  this 
subject. 

In  1828  Frances  Wright,  an  educated  English- 
woman, came  to  this  country  to  lecture  upon  the 
"Moral  and  Political  Questions  of  the  Day, 
including  Woman's  Rights."  This  gifted  lady 
was  an  able  exponent  of  the  doctrines  of  her 
eminent  country-woman,  Mary  Wollstonecraft,  as 
set  forth  in  her  celebrated  book,  the  "Vindica- 
tion of  the  Rights  of  Woman."  Ernestine  L. 
Rose,  a  beautiful  Polish  lady,  lectured  in  1836, 
in  New  York  and  other  States,  upon  the  Equal 
Rights  of  Women.  In  1837,  Mary  S.  Gove 
spoke  upon  the  same  subject,  especially  upon 
woman's  right  to  a  thorough  medical  education. 
About  this  time  Sarah  and  Angelina  Grimkd, 
daughters  of  a  wealthy  planter  in  South  Carolina, 
emancipated  their  slaves,  and  came  North  to 
lecture  on  the  evils  of  slavery. 

In  1838,  Abby  Kelley,  a  young  Quakeress, 
made  her  first  appearance  upon  the  anti-slavery 
platform.  She  was  the  first  Massachusetts 
woman  who  spoke  to  mixed  audiences  of  men  and 


WOMAN-  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         II 

women  in  the  State.  As  agents  of  the  American 
Anti- Slavery  Societj^,  Abby  Kelley  and  Angelina 
Grimk^  went  about  the  State  speaking  to  the 
people,  in  school  houses  and  churches,  upon  the 
horrors  of  slavery.  The  churches  were  alarmed 
at  such  an  innovation,  and  both  men  and  women 
were  expelled  from  their  body  for  going  to  hear 
t\\em,  especiaHy  o?t  Sunday/^  Had  not  St.  Paul 
said  that  women  were  to  keep  silent  in  the 
churches  "i  It  unsexed  them,  said  the  church 
dignitaries,  and  a  Pastoral  Letter  was  written 
by  the  General  Association  of  Congregational 
Ministers  in  Massachusetts,  declaring  it  to  be  un- 
natural that  woman  should  assume  the  place  and 
tone  of  man  as  a  public  reformer. 

This  "Clerical  Bull,"  as  it  was  called,  was 
ably  answered  by  Sarah  Grimke,  in  a  series  of 
letters    to    Mary    S.    Parker    (President   of    the 

*  Poor  old  Abby  Folsom  deserves  some  mention,  as  a 
martyr  to  woman's  right  to  speak  in  public.  She  was  no- 
torious as  a  "woman's  righter,"  and  the  boys  followed  and 
hooted  her  along  the  street.  She  was  one  of  the  first 
women  to  speak  in  anti-slavery  meetings.  Emerson  called 
her  the  "  Flea  of  Conventions."  But  for  this  impaling  on 
the  pen  of  his  genius,  her  name  would  have  been  long  ago 
lost  in  her  forgotten  grave. 


12  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

Boston  Female  Anti-Slavery  Society),  and  in  spite 
of  its  interdict,  Abby  Kelley,  and  Sarah  and 
Angelina  Grimke  continued  to  speak  in  public, 
and  bring  the  rights  of  their  sex  more  and 
more  into  the  Anti-Slavery  Conventions.  In  the 
annual  report  of  the  American  Anti-Slavery 
Society,  for  1839,  ^^^  question  of  woman's  right 
to  speak  upon  the  platform  was  endorsed  by  an 
"immense  majority"  in  spite  of  an  attempt  on  the 
part  of  some  members  to  "  strike  out  so  much  as 
related  to  the  subject."  Though  women  were 
members  of  this  society,  and  were  permitted  to 
aid  in  raising  money,  and  in  doing  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  work,  they  had  never  been  permitted 
to  vote  in  the  conventions,  or  serve  upon  its  com- 
mittees. 

In  the  same  year  a  resolution  was  passed  at 
the  annual  Convention  of  the  New  England  Anti- 
Slavery  Society,  inviting  all  persons,  whether 
men  or  women,  who  agreed  in  sentiment  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  to  become  members  and  par- 
ticipate in  the  proceedings.  A  protest  against 
this  /esolution  was  offered,  containing  reasons 
why  women    should  7iot  be  permitted  to  speak 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.  13 

and  vote  in  Conventions ;  one  of  which  was,  that 
such  an  "irrelevant  innovation"  would  be  "inju- 
rious to  th^  cause  of  the  slave."  By  a  strange 
anomaly,  one  of  the  seven  signers  of  this  "  Pro- 
test" against  personal  liberty  was  Charles  T. 
Torrey,  who  was  afterwards  a  martyr  to  the 
cause  of  negro  emancipation. 

In  1840,  woman's  right  to  serve  on  the  board 
of  officers  of  anti-slavery  societies  was  estab- 
lished, Abby  Kelley  being  put  on  the  business 
committee  of  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society, 
with  the  full  right  to  speak  and  vote  upon  all 
questions.  This  was  done  in  the  annual  Conven- 
tion, and  some  of  the  members  were  so  exasper- 
ated, that  a  portion  of  them  left  the  meeting. 
Of  their  number  were  eight  clergymen  of  the 
same  denomination  as  that  which  had  fulminated 
the  "  Clerical  Bull."  By  this  event  the  American 
Anti-Slavery  Society  was  divided  from  centre  to 
circumference.  But  the  "  Garrisonian  wing,"  as 
it  came  afterwards  to  be  called,  stood  on  the 
right  side  of  the  question,  and  firmly  espoused 
the  equal  rights  of  all  American  citizens,  irre- 
spective of  sex. 


14  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

At  the  World's  Anti-Slavery  Convention,  held 
in  1840,  a  similar  scene  was  enacted.  The 
women  delegates  from  America  were  refused  seats 
in  the  Convention,  and  this  "insane  innovation, 
this  woman  -  intruding  deliision^^^  was  severely 
rebuked  by  the  leading  English  Anti- Slavery 
members.  The  men  delegates  from  America, 
however,  sided  with  the  women ;  George  Brad- 
burn,  Wendell  Phillips,  Edmund  Quincy,  Oliver 
Johnson,  Parker  Pillsbury,  S.  S.  Foster,  Henry  B. 
Stanton  and  others,  openly  protested.  Mr.  Gar- 
rison, who  arrived  late,  refused  to  take  his  seat, 
unless  all  delegates,  women  as  well  as  men,  could 
be  admitted  to  their  rightful  privilege.* 

These  and  similar  experiences,  taught  some  of 
the  Anti-Slavery  people  that  there  was  still  an- 
other class  of  human  beings,  besides  the  black 
men,  who  had  rights  a  "  white  man  was  bound  to 
respect;"  and  from  that  time  began  the  real 
work  for  the  equal  rights  of  woman.  Lydia 
Maria  Child  (the  first  woman  journalist  in  the 
country),  through  her  able  articles  in  the  Natioiial 

*  For  the  World's   Anti-Slavery  Convention,  see    Ap- 
pendix B. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.  15 

Era,  which  she  edited  at  that  time,  began  to 
infuse  into  the  public  mind  a  little  leaven  of  this 
doctrine. 

Abby  Kelley  never  failed,  in  her  speeches  upon 
the  Anti-Slavery  platform,  to  make  a  tacit  appeal 
for  the  rights  of  her  sex.  It  was  said  of  her: 
"  She  acted  like  a  gentle  hero,  with  her  mild 
decision,  and  womanly  calmness."  Angelina  and 
Sarah  Grimke,  the  one  with  her  voice,  the  other 
with  her  pen,  eloquently  pleaded ;  and  in  the 
*'  Garrisonian  wing  "  were  many  men  who  helped 
to  sow  the  seeds  of  this  reform.  It  is  enough  to 
say,  that  the  leaders  in  the  Anti-Slavery  movement 
in  Massachusetts  were  also  leaders  in  the  early 
Woman's  Rights  movement,  and  that  their  voices, 
if  still  heard  upon  the  earth,  have  continued  to  be 
identified  with  the  cause. 

There  were  two  social  influences  at  work  in 
Massachusetts,  in  1840,  creating  public  sentiment 
concerning  this  new  reform.  Leading  writers  of 
the  time,  who  belonged  to  what  was  then  called 
the  Transcendental  School,  took  up  the  theme. 
Notable  among  these  was  Margaret  Fuller,  who, 
in  her  article  entitled  "  The  Great  Lawsuit,"  * 
*  The  Dial,  1844. 


1 6  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

Struck  the  key-note  of  the  whole  question.  She 
wrote  :  '*  We  would  have  every  arbitrary  barrier 
thrown  down.  We  would  have  every  path  laid 
open  to  woman  as  freely  as  to  man.  *  *  We 
would  have  woman  lay  aside  all  thoughts  such 
as  she  habitually  cherishes,  of  being  taught  and 
led  by  men.  *  *  Man  cannot  by  right  lay 
even  well-meant  restrictions  on  womar^."  In  her 
"Woman  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,"  printed 
two  years  later,  Miss  Fuller  had  advanced  to  a 
more  practical  consideration  of  the  subject. 
Then  she  wrote,  that  man  ought  to  give  woman 
every  privilege  acquired  for  himself:  elective 
franchise,  tenure  of  property,  liberty  to  speak  in 
public  assemblies,  and  equal  opportunities  for 
education.  Theodore  Parker,  that  man  of  a 
century;  the  great  Unitarian,  Dr.  Channin'g; 
Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  William  Henry  Chan- 
ning,  and  A.  Bronson  Alcott,  accepted  Miss 
Fuller's  ideas  upon  this  subject. 

During  the  same  years  in  which  the  Dial  was 
published  (1840-44),  another  magazine  of  a  very 
different  literary  character,  was  publishing  in  a 
little  city  not  far  from  Boston.     This  was  the 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.  17 

Lowell  Offering,^  edited  by  Harriot  F.  Curtis  and 
Harriet  Farley.  ^  Not  only  was  this  publication 
edited,  but  all  its  contributions  were  written  by 
young  women,  actively  employed  in  the  Lowell 
cotton  mills.  This  was  without  doubt  the  first 
magazine  in  the  country  conducted  solely  by 
women.  It  reached  a  very  different  class  of  read- 
ers from  those  of  the  Dial^  but  it  also  advocated 
woman's  right  to  independence  of  thought  and 
of  action.  Its  influence  in  Massachusetts  and  in 
New  England  was  wide-spread.  It  found  its  way 
into  lonely  villages  and  farm-houses,  and  set  the 
women  to  thinking,  and  thus  it  added  its  little 
leaven  of  progressive  thought,  to  the  times  in 
which  it  lived. 

Says  Taine :  "  In  order  to  be  developed,  an  idea 
must  be  in  harmony  with  surrounding  civilization, 
and  the  whole  age  must  co-operate  with  it."  It 
was  necessary  that  the  preceding  influences,  so 
briefly  mentioned,  should  be  at  w^ork,  in  order 
that  the  idea  of  woman's  equality  with  man  could 
become  enough  developed  to  demand  some  pub- 
lic expression  on  the  subject.      It  had  been  three 

♦  For  a  history  of  this  Magazine,  see  Appendix  C. 
2 


MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 


quarters  of  a  century  since  the  first  Massachusetts 
woman  had  dared  offer  a  gentle  plea  for  the 
rights  of  her  sex.  The  time  had  come  when  the 
voices  of  many  women,  in  her  own  and  in  other 
states,  were  to  be  heard  to  declare  themselves 
no  longer  willing  to  be  "bound  by  any  laws  in 
which  they  had  no  voice,  or  representation." 

The  first  Convention  to  discuss  woman's  rights 
and  duties  was  planned  by  Elizabeth  Cady  Stan- 
ton and  Lucretia  Mott,  and  was  held  at  Seneca 
Falls,  New  York,  on  the  19th  and  20th  of  July, 
1848.  The  members  of  this  Convention  based 
the  claims  of  woman  on  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, demanded  equal  rights,  and  published 
their  sentiments  over  their  own  names.  There 
were  present  sixty-eight  women  and  thirty-eight 
men.  At  the  head  of  the  list  were  the  names  of 
James  and  Lucretia  Mott,  Elizabeth  Cady  Stan- 
ton, Frederick  Douglass  (not  yet  emancipated), 
Martha  C.  Wright,  and  Amy  Post.  Near  the 
close  of  the  meeting,  the  members  finding  that 
there  v/as  still  a  great  deal  to  be  said  upon  the 
subject,  adjourned  for  two  weeks,  and  held 
a  similar  Convention,  in  Rochester,  New  York,  on 
the  second  of  August. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVERfENT.  19 

In  May,  1850,  a  third  Woman's  Rights  Conven- 
tion was  held  in  Salem,  Ohio.  It  was  quite  well 
attended  and  its  proceedings  were  discussed  in 
the  columns  of  the  New  York  Tribune, 

The  first  National  Woman's  Rights  Convention 
was  held  in  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  October 
23  and  24,  1850.  This  is  the  fourth  convention 
in  order  held  in  the  United  States  to  discuss  the 
question  of  woman's  right  to  equality  before  the 
law,  to   "life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happi- 


20  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 


CHAPTER  II. 

GENERAL   HISTORY  CONTINUED.       TEN   GREAT 
CONVENTIONS.       1850 — 1860. 

"  If  there  be  a  word  of  truth  in  history,  women  have 
been  always  and  still  are,  over  the  greater  part  of  the  globe, 
humble  companions,  playthings,  captives,  menials  and 
beasts  of  burden."  Macaulay. 

A  T  an  Anti-Slavery  meeting  held  in  Boston 
in  1850,  an  invitation  was  given  from  the 
speaker's  desk,  to  all  those  who  felt  interested 
in  a  plan  for  a  National  Woman's  Rights  Con- 
vention, to  meet  in  the  ante-room.  Nine  solitary 
women  responded,  and  went  into  the  dark  and 
dingy  room  to  consult  together.  Out  of  their 
number  a  committee  of  seven  was  chosen  to  call 
a  Convention  in  Massachusetts.  The  names  of 
this  committee  were  Harriot  K.  Hunt,  Eliza  J. 
Kenney,  Lucy  Stone,  Abby  Kelley  Foster,  Paulina 
Wright  Davis,  Dora  Taft  (Father  Taylor's  daugh- 


irOJ/AJV  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         21 


ter),  and  Eliza  J.  Taft.  The  call  was  issued,  signed 
by  the  names  of  prominent  men  and  women  from 
Massachusetts  and  different  parts  of  the  United 
States* 

It  had  been  hoped  that  Margaret  Fuller  could 
be  prevailed  upon  to  preside  at  this  Convention, 
and  a  letter  had  been  written  to  her,  asking  her 
to  become  a  leader  in  the  movement,  but 

"The  unplumb'd,  salt,  estranging  sea" 

had  carried  her  far  beyond  the  reach  of  all  earthly 
voices.  The  Convention  was  held  in  Brinley  Hall, 
Worcester,  Oct.  23  and  24,  1850,  and  was  called 
to  order  by  Sarah  H.  Earle  of  Worcester,  and 
presided  over  by  Paulina  Wright  Davis  of  Rhode 
Island.  Representative  men  and  women  were 
present  from  the  different  states,  but  of  the  two 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  names  of  those  who 
signed  themselves  members,  one  hundred  and 
eighty -six  were  from   Massachusetts. 

Conspicuous  among  the  speakers  were  the  old 
Anti-Slavery  leaders,  Wendell   Phillips,  William 

*  For  call,  and  names  of  members  of  this  Convention,  see 
Appendix  D. 


22  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

Lloyd  Garrison,  C.  C.  Burleigh,  W.  H.  Channing 
and  Stephen  S.  Foster.  Among  the  women  who 
spoke  were  Abby  Kelley  Foster,  Lucretia  Mott, 
Sojourner  Truth,  Antoinette  L.  Brown  (whom 
the  newspapers  called  a  "beautiful  orthodox 
Oberlin  priestess  "),  Abby  H.  Price  (the  first  of 
those  large-hearted  women  to  speak  in  public  on 
the  social  question),  Harriot  K.  Hunt  (the  first 
Massachusetts  woman  to  protest  in  public  against 
"  taxation  without  representation  "),*  Eliza  J, 
Kenney  (the  first  woman  whose  name  had  led  a 
petition  to  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  asking 
for  the  equal  rights  of  her  sex),  and  last  but  not 
least,  Lucy  Stone.  This  eloquent  advocate  of 
woman's  rights  made  her  first  speech  on  the  sub- 
ject in  1847.  The  newspapers  of  that  date  said 
of  her :  "  She  is  young,  has  a  silvery  voice,  and 
a  heart  warm  with  enthusiasm."  Letters  ad- 
dressed to  the  Convention  were  read  from  Samuel 
J.  May,  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  Gerrit  Smith 
and  many  others. 

In  the  rank  and  file  of  the  members  were  also 
found  Anti-Slavery  workers,  and  many  others  who 
*  For  Dr.  Hunt's  protest,  see  Appendix  E. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.  23 

had  come  long  distances  to  listen,  or  be  con- 
verted to  the  new  doctrine  of  woman's  rights  and 
duties.  What  sacrifices,  domestic  and  social,  did 
not  some  of  these  devoted  souls  make,  that  they 
might  show  the  faith  that  was  in  them  !  Many 
of  them  are  forgotten,  and  their  names  have 
travelled  "  the  way  to  dusty  death,"  but  the  flame 
they  helped  to  kindle,  like  a  "  Candlestick  set  in 
a  low  place,  has  given  light  as  faithfully,  where  it 
was  needed,  as  that  upon  the  hill.  "  It  is  well 
to  keep  the  "  memory  green  "  of  those  who  thus 
early  took  up  the  cross  when  it  was  a  cross,  in 
this  weak,  and  as  it  was  then  often  called,  ridicu- 
lous movement.  Their  voices  sounded  the  notes 
of  preparation,  for  the  woman's  hour  that  was 
to  be. 

Tidings  of  this  and  of  the  Ohio  Convention 
travelled  across  the  ocean,  and  their  deliberations 
were  ably  discussed  by  Mrs.  John  Stuart  Mill, 
in  the  Westminster  Review^  and  great  attention 
was  aroused  thereby  as  to  the  importance  of  the 
subject.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  the  whole 
Woman's  Rights  agitation  in  Old  England,  as 
well  as  in  Massachusetts,  and  in  New  England, 
may  be  dated  from  these  conventions  of  1850. 


24  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

The  newspapers  of  our  own  State  did  not  follow 
the  lead  of  the  great  English  Quarterly  in  its 
treatment  of  the  new  movement,  but  found  this 
"  Hen  Convention,"  as  they  jocosely  called  it,  a 
fruitful  theme  for  ridicule.  They  even  went  so 
far  as  to  say  that  some  of  the  women  had  voices 
that  sounded  like  the  cackling  of  hens  !  So  far 
as  known,  only  four  newspapers  in  Massachusetts 
treated  the  subject  with  sympathy  or  respect. 
These  were  the  Lynft  Pioneer^  edited  by  George 
Bradburn ;  the  Liberator^  edited  by  William  Lloyd 
Garrison ;  the  Carpet  Bag,  a  humorous  Boston 
newspaper,  whose  writers  treated  the  matter 
sportively  but  in  a  kindly  spirit,  and  the  Lowell 
American^  a  little  Free  Soil  newspaper  edited  and 
published  by  William  S.  Robinson,  afterwards  so 
well  known  in  journalism  under  the  noin  de plume 
of  "Warrington." 

Many  well  remembered  anecdotes  might  be 
related,  to  show  the  drift  of  opinion  of  the  time, 
as  to  the  real  meaning  of  this  new  departure  for 
women.  With  crude  minds  the  hen  or  rooster 
argument  was  considered  even  more  conclusive 
or  convincing,  than  the  sphere  reasotiing  is  to-day. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         25 

The  central  idea  of  the  Woman's  Rights  move- 
ment was  supposed  to  be  a  desire  on  the  part  of 
some  women  to  wear  men's  clothes,  and  learn  to 
crow;  but  whether  like  men,  or  like  barn -yard 
bipeds,  was  never  very  clearly  defined.  When 
Lucy  Stone  went  to  Maiden  (a  suburban  town 
near  Boston)  to  speak  for  the  first  time  for 
Woman's  Rights,  a  Universalist  clergyman  an- 
nounced the  proposed  meeting  from  his  pulpit,  in 
these  words :  "This  evening,  at  the  Town  Hall,  a 
hen  will  attempt  to  crow !  "  This  was  thought  to 
be  a  huge  joke ! 

A  second  Convention  was  held  in  Worcester, 
in  the  same  hall  as  before,  on  Oct.  15  and  16, 
185 1.  Mrs.  Davis  again  presided,  and  many  of 
the  speakers  and  members  of  the  Convention  of 
1850  were  present.  The  new  speakers  were 
Elizabeth  Oakes  Smith  of  New  York,  Dr.  O.  Mar- 
tin, Mehitable  Haskell,  Charles  List  and  Sarah 
Redlon  of  Massachusetts,  Mrs.  C.  I.  H.  Nichols 
of  Vermont,  Emma  R.  Coe  of  Ohio,  Dr.  Long- 
shore of  Philadelphia,  and  Rebecca  Spring  of 
Brooklyn.  Letters  were  received  from  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson,  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Horace 


26  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

Mann,  Angelina  Grimk^  Weld,  Oliver  Johnson, 
Frances  D.  Gage  and  others. 

Among  the  letters  received  from  over  the 
ocean  was  one  sent  by  Jeanne  Deroind  and  Pau- 
line Roland,  two  French  Socialists,  from  their 
prison  in  St.  Lazare",  where  they  were  held  in  cap- 
tivity because  of  their  republican  principles 
concerning  universal  suffrage.*  Harriet  Marti- 
neau  also  sent  a  long  letter,  in  which  she  gave  an 
account  of  the  interest  excited  in  England  by  the 
Worcester  Convention  of  1850,  and  she  also 
expressed  her  profound  sympathy  with  the  new 
movement. 

It  was  at  this  Convention  of  185 1,  that  Abby 
Kelley  Foster  made  the  speech  containing  the 
little  sentence  so  long  and  lovingly  remembered. 
She  had  been  urging  upon  the  women  their  du- 
ties, as  wives,  mothers,  and  as  citizens,  and  then, 
in  reference  to  something  said  by  another  speaker 
in  disparagement  of  the  Anti-Slavery  platform, 
she,  who  knew  so  well  what  had  been  done  by 

*  With  other  reforms,  Pauline  Roland  advocated  the 
doctrine  that  marriage  should  never  be  tolerated,  unless 
the  man  as  well  as  the  woman,  could  be  compelled  to  keep 
the  law  of  chastity. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         27 


those  pioneer  workers  in  order  that  such  a  gath- 
ering of  women  could  be  possible,  said,  in  her 
inspiring  tones  :  "  I  do  not  rise  to  make  a  speech  j 
my  life  has  been  my  speech.  For  fourteen  years, 
I  have  advocated  this  cause  by  my  daily  life. 
Bloody  feet,  sisters,  have  worn  smooth  the  paths 
by  which  you  come  up  hither." 

A  third  National  Convention  was  held  at  Syra- 
cuse, New  York,  in  September,  1852.  The  call 
was  signed  by  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  Paulina 
W.  Davis,  William  H.  Channing,  Lucy  Stone  and 
Samuel  J.  May.  Lucretia  Mott  presided.  The 
most  notable  Massachusetts  woman  who  appeared 
as  speaker  at  this  Convention,  was  Susan  B.  An- 
thony. She  had  been  lecturing  since  1847,  as 
agent  for  the  temperance  cause,  but  she  made 
her  debut  on  the  Woman's  Rights  platform  at 
the  Syracuse  Convention  of  1852.  Susan  B. 
Anthony's  name,  with  that  of  Lucy  Stone,  and 
Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  is  known  .in  connection 
with  the  Woman's  Rights  Movement  wherever 
the  English  language  is  spoken  or  interpreted. 
For  some  unexplainable  reason,  it  has  been  the 
fortune  of  these  ladies,  more  than  of  any  other 


28  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

leaders,  to  bear  the  obloquy  incident  to  the  move- 
ment, and  to  be  considered  the  typical  Woman's 
Rights  advocates  as  illustrated  in  the  burlesque 
drama,  or  in  caricature.  "  Susan  B."  is  par  excel- 
lence the  martyr  to  the  cause  of  Woman  Suffrage, 
since  she  has  been  "arrested,  imprisoned,  tried 
and  convicted  on  the  charge  of  "  voting  contrary 
to  law." 

The  new  speakers,  not  heretofore  mentioned, 
were  Gerrit  Smith,  Mr.  Hewlett,  Lydia  S.  Fow- 
ler, Matilda  E.  J.  Gage,  Jane  Elizabeth  Jones, 
B.  S.  Jones,  Catherine  Stebbins,  Ernestine  L. 
Rose,  James  Mott,  Martha  C.  Wright,  and  per- 
haps others.  Letters  of  sympathy  were  read 
from  Rev.  S.  J.  May,  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton, 
Horace  Greeley,  Mrs.  Hugo  Reid  of  England, 
Rev.  William  H.  Channing,  John  Neal  of  Maine, 
Rev.  A.  D.  Mayo,  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  Mar- 
garet H.  Andrews,  Angelina  G.  Weld,  and  Sarah 
D.  Fisk.  Mr.  C.  A.  Hammond,  of  New  York 
State  Committee  of  the  Liberty  Party,  offered 
resolutions  of  endorsement  of  the  movement. 

In  1853  a  Woman's  Rights  Convention  was 
held   at  Broadway    Tabernacle    in    New   York. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.  29 

Lucretia  Mott  presided.  Conspicuous  among 
the  new  names  of  speakers  and  workers  were 
those  of  Rev.  John  Pierpont,  Caroline  M.  Sever- 
ance and  Rev.  John  C.  Cluer.  Madame  Anneke, 
a  German  lady,  editor  of  a  German  Woman's 
Rights  paper,  addressed  the  Convention  in  her 
own  tongue,  Mrs.  E.  L.  Rose  translating  her 
remarks  into  English  as  she  spoke. 

This  Convention  is  notable  from  the  fact  that 
it  witnessed  the  public  confession  of  one  Boston 
editor,  Isaac  C.  Pray,  who,  in  a  spirit  of  repent- 
ance, publicly  acknowledged  himself  converted 
to  the  doctrine  he  had  hitherto  ridiculed.  He 
said :  "  This  cause  has  been  the  butt  of  all  the 
ridicule  I  could  command.  There  is  not  a  lady 
on  this  platform  whom  my  pen  has  not  assailed ; 
and  now  I  come  to  make  all  the  reparation  in  my 
power,  by  thus  raising  my  voice  in  behalf  of  them 
and  the  cause  committed  to  their  hands."  A 
praiseworthy  example  to  all  Boston  editors  !  * 

A  letter  was  read  from  the  Woman's  Rights 

*  This  is  the  only  early  Convention  at  which  any  particu- 
lar disturbance  occurred.  According  to  the  records  it 
broke  up  in  confusion.  Whether  the  Boston  editor's  con- 
fession had  anything  to  do  with  it  does  not  appear. 


30  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

Association  of  Illinois,  showing  the  gratifying 
progress  of  public  opinion  on  this  question  in  that 
State.  As  early  as  1853,  Indiana,  Pennsylvania 
and  others  of  the  States,  had  begun  to  follow  the 
good  example  of  New  York,  Ohio,  and  Massachu- 
setts, in  agitating  the  new  reform. 

The  same  year  (1853)  a  Fourth  National  Wo- 
man's Rights  Convention  was  held  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio.  Lucretia  Mott,  the  former  President  of 
the  association,  called  the  meeting  to  order. 
Frances  D.  Gage  of  Missouri  was  chosen  Presi- 
dent, and  a  fervent  prayer  was  offered  by  Rev. 
Antoinette  Brown.  Massachusetts  was  repre- 
sented by  Stephen  S.  and  Abby  Kelley  Foster, 
Lucy  Stone  and  Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison.  Ernestine 
L.  Rose  was  chairman  of  the  Business  Committee, 
and  Susan  B.  Anthony  of  the  Finance  Committee. 
William  H.  Channing,  in  a  letter  proposed  a 
Woman's  Declaration  of  Rights,  which,  with  a 
similar  one  passed  at  Seneca  Falls,  was  referred 
to  a  committee  for  final  action. 

This  is  not  the  first  time  an  attempt  was  made 
to  form  a  Woman's  Declaration  of  Independence. 
In  a  letter  from  Mr.  Francis  Cogswell,  of  Bed- 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         3 1 

« 
ford,  to  E.  R.  Hoar,  President  of  the  Concord 

(Mass.)  celebration  of  1850,  may  be  found  the  fol- 
lowing :  **In  the  recent  Female  Declaration  of 
Independence,  framed  and  signed  by  the  immortal 
thirty-two  ladies  of  Cambridge,  may  be  found^the 
following  significant  language  :  'We  offer,'  say  the 
fair  rebels,  *  as  an  apology  for  this  our  first  man- 
ifesto, the  fact  that  we  have  too  long  been 
regarded  as  political  cyphers,  and  that  we  have 
sacredly  resolved  to  make  the  year  1850,  memo- 
rable as  the  commencement  of  a  new  era  in 
politics.' "  This  letter  was  written  in  April  of 
the  same  year  that  the  first  Woman's  Rights 
Convention  was  held  in  Massachusetts.  Who  the 
"immortal  thirty-two  ladies,"  who  framed  this 
document  were,  has  not  yet  been  discovered. 

The  notable  persons  who  first  appeared  at  the 
1853  Woman's  Rights  Convention,  were  Joshua 
R.  Giddings  ("  Old  Gid  ")  the  great  Ohio  Free 
Soil  leader,  and  Henry  B.  Blackwell.  This  latter 
gentleman  made  a  memorable  speech  upon  wo- 
man's right  to  freedom,  personal  and  political. 
After  enumerating  the  many  causes,  which  led  to 
woman's  degradation,  he  said  that  even  her  dress ^ 


32  MASSACHUSETTS  IN   THE 

was  characteristic  of  her  social  condition.  And 
he  advised  any  gentleman  present,  who  did  not 
agree  with  him  as  to  the  cramped  condition  in 
which  woman  was  placed,  even  in  the  matter  of 
clothing,  to  try  to  live  one  day  in  her  habiliments. 
In  the  social  position  of  woman,  she  found  her- 
self still  more  bound  and  restrained.  Was  it  any 
wonder  that  woman  suffered  thus  fettered  and 
confined  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  ?  For  him- 
self he  would  not  accept  life  on  such  conditions. 

The  Bloomer  costume,  as  it  was  called,  had 
appeared  a  few  years  before,  and  several  leading 
women  —  Lucy  Stone  among  them  —  had  adopted 
the  fashion.  The  credit  of  originating  this  cos- 
tume, afterwards  made  so  famous,  belongs  to  Mrs. 
E.  S.  Miller,  a  daughter  of  Gerrit  Smith  of  New 
York.  -She  lived  in  the  country  near  her  father's 
home,  and  was  in  the  habit  of  going  every  day, 
in  all  weather,  to  visit  him.  Her  long  dresses 
were  so  much  of  an  inconvenience,  in  walking 
over  the  country  roads  to  his  residence,  that  she 
determined  to  adopt  a  costume  she  had  seen 
Mrs.  Fanny  Kemble  wear  on  some  mountain  ex- 
cursions.   She  at  once  proceeded  to  cut  off  one  of 


M^'OA/A.V  SUFFRAGE   MOVEMENT.         33 

her  long  dresses  just  below  the  knee  and  with  the 
material  thus  gained,  she  made  Turkish  trowsers, 
and  this,  with  the  addition  of  a  short  sack,  com- 
pleted the  suit.  Afterwards,  by  one  of  the  caprices 
of  history,  this  dress,  so  originated,  was  named 
for  Mrs.  Amelia  Bloomer,  a  lady  who  also 
adopted  it. 

Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  Mrs.  Miller's  cousin, 
was  the  second  lady  to  adopt  this  fashion.  At- 
tempts were  made  to  introduce  the  reform  dress 
generally,  among  women.  Conventions  and  par- 
lor meetings  were  held,  to'  discuss  the  project, 
and  the  "  Bloomerites "  in  one  city  at  least, 
(Lowell),  appeared  in  public,  as  a  part  of  the 
Fourth  of  July  procession  of  185 1,  dressed  in 
their  unique  and  striking  costume.  They  were 
nearly  two  hundred  in  number,  fair  young  working 
girls,  from  the  Lowell  Cotton  Mills,  and  if  they 
did  not  look  like  "  liveried  angels,"  (as  they  were 
said  to  have  looked  on  a  similar  occasion,  when 
dressed  in  white,  with  gay  parasols,  they  walked 
in  procession  in  honor  of  Andrew  Jackson,)  they 
were  a  pretty  sight,  and  made  a  choice  subject  for 
the  illustrated  newspapers  of  the  time.  Even  the 
3 


34  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

London  Punch  thought  the  *'  American  Bloomer- 
ites "  worthy  the  attention  of  its  artist.  The 
reform  dress  tliough  worn  several  years  by  leading 
and  progressive  women,  was  finally  done  to  death 
like  many  a  better  fashion,  by  the  ridicule  of  the 
newspapers  and  the  boys  in  the  streets. 

To  return.  In  Mr.  Blackwell's  speech,  after 
he  had  finished  his  remarks  upon  the  subject  of 
woman's  dress,  he  endorsed  the  Bloomer  costume 
and  spoke  of  its  peculiarities  as  follows  :  "  When 
I  first  heard  about  it,  it  commended  itself  to  my 
reason,  but  when  I  first  saw  it,  I  confess  my  taste 
recoiled  from  the  novelty.  I  felt  a  shock,  in  spite 
of  myself,  as  a  figure,  which  seemed  neither  man 
nor  woman,  approached  me."  "  But,"  he  contin- 
ued earnestly,  "  I  feel  so  no  longer."  History 
must  tell  that  he  soon  passed  beyond  the  enduring 
stage  in  his  conversion,  and  that  a  certain  little 
rosy  cheeked  reformer  who  wore  the  "short 
dress,"  soon  after  became  to  him  the  dearest 
woman  in  the  world. 

Two  years  later  (1855),  Henry  B.  Blackwell 
and  his  wife,  Lucy  Stone,  made  their  protest 
against  the  marriage  laws,  as  then  existing,  and 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         35 

enunciated  their  belief,  that  though  married,  they 
were  still  individuals,  with  distinct  and  separate 
rights ;  that  woman,  as  wife,  could  not  be  absorbed 
in  the  husband,  or  extinguished  by  the  marriage 
ceremony,  and  that  she  should  still  continue  to 
hold  her  own  property,  and  keep  her  own  name 
as  before  marriage.  For  twenty-five  years  Lucy 
Stone  and  her  husband  have  maintained  these 
opinions. 

In  1879,  desiring  to  vote  under  the  new  law 
allowing  women  to  vote  for  school  committees, 
she  applied  for  registration  under  her  own  name, 
of  Lucy  Stone.  The  Registrar  of  voters  gave  the 
opinion  that  as  her  married  name  was  Blackwell, 
her  request  could  not  be  granted,  and  the  matter 
being  referred  to  the  City  Solicitor  of  Boston,  he 
confirmed  this  view  of  the  subject.*  Not  willing 
to  make  this  concession  of  principle  to  an  old 
tradition,  Lucy  Stone  has  not  yet  become  a  voter, 

T.  W.  Higginson  of  Massachusetts  wrote  mem- 
orable letters  to  the  1853  Conventions. 

*Yet  she  could  not  have  been  registered  as  Mrs.  Henry 
B.  Blackwell  I  The  question  seems  to  be,  which  of  her 
husband's  names  did  she  marry.-* 


36  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

The  first  Woman's  Rights  Convention  ever 
held  in  Boston,  was  in  1854,  at  Horticultural 
Hall,  the  same  day  upon  which  Anthony  Burns 
was  carried  back  into  slavery.  Though  many  of 
the  friends  staid  away  to  witness  this  sad  surren- 
der, the  hall  was  crowded  with  earnest  men  and 
women,  whom  a  deep  interest  in  the  movement 
had  drawn  together.  The  speakers  were  Lucy 
Stone,  James  Freeman  Clarke,  Harriot  K.  Hunt, 
Mr.  Phillips,  Mr.  Garrison,  Abby  Kelley  Foster, 
William  I.  Bowditch  and  many  others.  Sarah  H. 
Earle  of  Worcester,  presided,  and  Ellen  M.  Tarr 
of  Boston,  was  secretary. 

September  19th  and  20th,  1855,  a  New  Eng- 
land meeting  convened  at  the  Meionaon  to  con- 
sider the  laws  of  the  different  New  England 
States  in  relation  to  women.  Harriot  K.  Hunt 
presided,  and  delivered  the  opening  address, 
Paulina  Wright  Davis  was  permanent  chairman, 
Caroline  H.  Dall  reported  on  the  laws  of  Massa- 
chusetts, Mrs.  Davis  reported  from  Rhode  Island, 
(this  document  was  drawn  up  by  Dunbar  Harris^, 
Ann  E.  Brown  from  Vermont,  Ellen  M.  Tarr 
from  New  Hampshire,  and  Francis  Gillette  from 


WOMAN  SUFFIX  AGE  MOVE  ME  NT.  37 


Connecticut.  Caroline  M.  Severance,  Wendell 
Phillips,  Antoinette  Brown,  T.  W.  Higginson  and 
Lucy  Stone  were  among  the  speakers.  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson  delivered  the  closing  lecture  and 
Elizabeth  Oakes  Smith  read  a  poem. 

In  1856  the  Seventh  National  Woman's  Rights 
Convention  was  held  in  Broadway  Tabernacle, 
New  York.  Martha  C.  Wright  called  the  meeting 
to  order;  Lucy  Stone  presided,  and  made  an 
eloquent  opening  address.  Massachusetts  was 
represented  in  letters  and  speakers  by  Rev.  Sam- 
uel Johnson,  Francis  Jackson,  T.  W.  Higginson, 
A.  Bronson  Alcott,  Susan  B.  Anthony,  N.  H. 
Whiting  and  Wendell  Phillips.  Horace  Greeley 
again  gave  his  assurance  of  sympathy  with  the 
cause.  He  wTote  :  "  If  the  women  of  this,  or 
any  other  country  believe  their  rights  would  be 
better  secured,  and  their  happiness  promoted  by 
the  assumption  on  their  part,  of  the  political  fran- 
chises and  responsibilities  of  men,  I,  a  republican 
in  principle  from  conviction,  shall  certainly  inter- 
pose no  objection."  *    Frances  D.  Gage,  Ernestine 

*  Mr.  Greeley  before  his  death,  in  1872,  changed  his 
mind  upon  this  subject. 


3^  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  TFTE 

L.  Rose  and  Lucretia  Mott  also  spoke ;  and 
Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton  wrote  an  able  letter  on 
woman's  rights  in  the  marriage  relation. 

The  1856  Convention  was  held  just  after  the 
election  of  President  Buchanan,  a  time  when  the 
issue  of  the  Anti-Slavery  question  was  the  most 
absorbing  thought  in  the  public  mind.  Fremont 
had  been  the  candidate  of  the  Republican  party, 
(or  ^'  the  Party  of  Freedom,")  and  the  name  of 
Jessie  Benton  Fremont,  had  been  made  a  rallying 
cry  of  the  campaign.  The  Convention,  taking 
advantage  of  this  fact,  made  an  appeal  in  its 
resolutions  to  both  the  Democratic  and  Republi- 
can parties  to  do  justice  "  to  both  halves  of  the 
human  race."  To  the  Republican  party  it  said : 
"  Resolved :  That  the  Republican  party,  appeal- 
ing constantly,  through  its  orators,  to  female 
sympathy,  and  using  for  its  most  popular  rallying 
cry  a  female  name,  is  peculiarly  pledged  by  con- 
sistency, to  do  justice  hereafter  in  those  states 
where  it  holds  control."  It  need  hardly  be  added 
that  no  notice  was  taken  of  this  appeal  by  those 
to  whom  it  was  addressed.  And  yet  the  Republi- 
can party  was  fast  coming  into  power,  made  up 


WOMA.V  SUFFRAGE   MOl'EMENT.  39 

of  men  who  were  old  Anti-Slavery  and  Free  Soil 
political  leaders,  whose  motto  was  Emancipation^ 
Free  Speech  a  fid  a  Free  Wo7'ld ! 

After  Fremont  was  defeated  it  seemed  to  those 
who  had  labored  so  long  for  the  black  man's  free- 
dom, and  for  the  rights  of  woman,  as  if  both 
causes  were  lost.  The- Woman  Movement  was 
silent  for  a  period  of  three  years,  and  there  is  no 
record  of  a  National  or  other  convention,  in 
which  Massachusetts  had  a  part. 

A  Woman's  Rights  meeting,  the  third  of  the 
kind  in  Boston,  was  held  at  Mercantile  Hall,  May 
27,  1859,  the  report  of  which  was  published 
by  S.  R.  Urbino.  It  was  called  by  Caroline  M. 
Severance  and  Caroline  H.  Dall.  Mrs.  Severance 
presided  and  made  the  address  of  welcome. 
Harriot  K.  Hunt  spoke  on  "Woman:  ist.  Re- 
stricted in  Education  ;  2d,  Deprived  of  Suffrage  ; 
3d,  Taxed  without  Representation.  Rev.  James 
Freeman  Clarke,  Rev.  John  T.  Sargent,  Rev. 
Charles  G.  Ames  and  Wendell  Phillips  were  the 
speakers.  Mrs.  Dall  made  an  able  report  show- 
ing what  had  been  the  gain  to  the  movement 
since  1855,  in  Europe  as  well  as  in  America. 


40  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

The  Ninth  National  Convention  was  held  in 
New  York  May  12,  1859.  A  number  of  the 
Massachusetts  leaders  whose  names  have  been 
mentioned  were  present,  and  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  petition  the  Legislatures  of  the  sev- 
eral states.  Their  names  were,  Wendell  Phil- 
lips, Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  Caroline  H.  Dall, 
Caroline  M.  Severance,  Ernestine  L.  Rose, 
Antoinette  B.  Blackwell,  Thomas  W.  Higginson 
and  Susan  B.  Anthony.  The  Tenth  National 
Convention  was  held  in  New  York  city  in  i860, 
and  here  nearly  the  same  names  are  found  as 
workers  and  speakers. 

It  will  be  seen  that  all  the  National  Conven- 
tions, up  to  this  date,  though  not  always  held  in 
the  State  were  organized  in  great  part  by  Massa- 
chusetts reformers  who  had  learned  so  well  how 
to  manage  them  through  their  Anti-Slavery  ex- 
perience. Hence,  some  record  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  Conventions  mentioned,  is  necessary,  in 
order  to  make  complete  the  history  of  the  incep- 
tion of  the  Woman's  Rights  Movement  in 
Massachusetts.  The  hands  of  her  chieftains  can 
plainly  be  traced  holding  the  leading  strings  of 


WOMAN-  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         41 

this  great  reform.  A  newspaper  correspondent, 
in  the  Sprifigfield  Republican^  writing  of  this 
matter,  said :  *'  If  Boston  reformers  have  not 
absolutely  turned  the  crank  of  the  Universe  for 
the  last  thirty  years,  they  have  taken  a  spell  at  it, 
perhaps  oftener  than  any  other  men  and  women 
in  the  country,  and  deserve  to  have  credit  given 
them  accordingly." 


42  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 


CHAPTER  III. 
i 

GENERAL   HISTORY   CONTINUED.      THE   MACHINERY 
OF   CONVENTIONS.       1860 — 1881, 

"  The  Ballot  is  education  in  Government." 

Warrington. 

ipROM  i860  to  1866  there  is  no  record  to  be 
found,  of  any  public  meeting  on  the  subject 
of  Woman's  Rights,  in  which  any  Massachusetts 
speaker  appeared.  During  these  years  the  war 
of  the  Rebellion  had  been  fought.  Pending  the 
great  struggle,  the  majority  of  the  leaders,  who 
were  also  Anti-Slavery  leaders,  had  thought  it  to 
be  the  wiser  policy  for  the  woman  cause  to  give 
way  for  a  time,  in  order  that  all  the  working 
energy  might  be  given  to  the  cause  of  the  slave. 
"  It  is  not  the  woman's,  but  the  negro's  hour." 
"After  the  slave — then  the  woman,"  said  Wendell 
Phillips  in   his   stirring   speeches,  at   this   date. 


WOMAN'  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         43 

"Keep  quiet,  work  for  us,"  said  other  of  the 
Anti-Slavery  leaders  to  the  women.  "  Wait ! 
help  us  to  abolish  Slavery,  and  then  we  will  work 
for  you." 

And  the  women,  who  had  the  welfare  of  the 
country  as  much  at  heart  as  the  men,  kept  quiet ; 
worked  in  hospital  and  field ;  sacrificed  sons  and 
husbands ;  did  what  is  always  woman's  part  in 
wars  between  man  and  man, —  and  waited.  When 
the  Fourteenth  Amendment  to  the  United  States 
Constitution  was  proposed,  in  which  the  negro's 
liberty  and  his  right  to  the  ballot  were  to  be 
established,  an  effort  was  made  to  secure  in  it 
some  recognition  of  the  rights  of  woman.  Mass- 
achusetts sent  a  petition,  headed  with  the  name 
of  Lydia  Maria  Child,  against  the  introduction  of 
the  word  "  male "  in  the  proposed  new  amend- 
ment. 

When  this  petition  was  offered  to  the  greatest 
of  America's  emancipation  leaders,  for  presenta- 
tion to  Congress,  he  received  and  presented  it 
under  protest.  He  thought  tlip  woman  question 
should  not  be  forced  at  such  a  time,  and  the  only 
answer  from  Congress  this  "  woman  intruding " 


44  MASSACHUSETTS  IN   THE 

petition  received,  was  found  in  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment  itself,  in  which  the  word  "male," 
with  unnecessary  iteration,  was  twice  repeated,  so 
that  there  might  be  no  mistake  in  future  concern- 
ing woman's  rights,  under  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  Statesi 

The  war  was  over.  The  rights  of  the  black 
man,  for  whom  the  women  had  worked  and 
waited,  were  secured,  but  under  the  new  amend- 
ment (by  which  his  race  had  been  made  free)  the 
white  women  of  the  United  States  were  more 
securely  held  in  political  slavery.  It  was  time, 
indeed,  to  hold  conventions  and  agitate  anew  the 
question  of  woman's  rights.  The  lesson  of  the 
war  had  been  well  learned.  Women  had  been 
taught  to  understand  politics,  "the  Science  of 
Government,"  and  to  take  an  interest  in  public 
events ;  and  some  who  before  the  war  had  not 
thought  upon  the  matter,  began  to  ask  themselves 
why  thousands  of  ignorant  men  should  be  made 
voters,  and  they,  or  their  sex,  still  kept  in  bond- 
age under  the  law* 

The  "American  machinery  of  conventions,"  (as 
our  English  co-workers  call  it,)  for  the  Woman's 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         45 

Rights  cause,  was  set  in  motion  again,  May  lo, 
1866,  wlien  tlie  Eleventh  National  Convention 
was  held  in  the  Church  of  the  Puritans,  in  New 
York. 

Desiring  to  stand  on  a  broader  platform  than 
that  hitherto  held,  the  name  of  the  organization 
was  changed  to  that  of  the  American  Equal 
Rights  Association.  Its  avowed  object  was  to 
secure  equal  rights  to  all  American  citizens, 
"especially  the  right  of  suffrage,  irrespective  of 
race,  color  or  sex."  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton  was 
made  president  of  the  new  named  Association. 
Susan  B.  Anthony,  Lucretia  Mott,  Ernestine  L. 
Rose,  Frances  D.  Gage,  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
Theodore  Tilton  and  others  spoke.  Massachu- 
setts was  represented  by  Wendell  Phillips,  Parker 
Pillsbury,  Stephen  S.  Foster  and  Caroline  H. 
Dall.  Mrs.  Dall  made  an  able  report  on  the 
changes  in  the  social  condition  of  woman,  during 
the  interregnum,  since  her  last  report  at  the  Con- 
vention of  i860.* 

It  is  a  notable  fact,  that  at  this  Convention,  the 
word  "  Rights,"  as  applied  to  the  Woman  Move- 

*  See  Appendix  F. 


4^  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

ment,  was  changed  to  that  of  "  Suffrage,"  a 
Woman  Suffrage  petition  being  sent  from  it  to 
Congress  for  the  first  time.  But  not  until  1868-9 
did  it  become  the  distinctive  title  of  the  reform. 
Since  that  date,  very  little  has  been  said  about 
Woman's  Rights  —  but  a  great  deal  about  Wo- 
man Suffrage,  or  The  Suffragists.  The  latter  term 
is  a  misnomer,  according  to  the  dictionary  inter- 
pretation, which  says,  "a  suffragist  is  one  who 
exercises  the  right  of  suffrage  —  a  voter." 

In  1866  (May  27),  the  first  meeting  of  the 
American  Equal  Rights  Association  was  held  at 
the  Meionaon  in  Boston.  Mrs.  C.  H.  Dall  called 
the  meeting  to  order,  and  Lucretia  Mott  presided. 
The  speakers  were  Susan  B.  Anthony,  Dr.  Sarah 
Young,  Parker  Pillsbury,  Aaron  M.  and  Mary 
Powell,  Frances  E.  Harper,  Frederic  A.  Hinck- 
ley, Samuel  E.  Sewall,  Dio  Lewis  and  others. 
The  first  anniversary  of  this  Association  was  held 
in  the  Church  of  the  Puritans  in  New  York  city, 
in  1867.  On  its  board  of  officers  were  the  names 
of  Elizabeth  B.  Chace,  Mary  Ashton  Livermore, 
Lucy  Stone,  Henry  B.  Blackwell,  Susan  B. 
Anthony,  Charles  L.  Remond,  Caroline  M.  Sev- 
erance and  many  others. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         47 

The  American  Equal  Rights  Association  lived 
until  1869,  when  in  Convention,  on  motion  of 
Ernestine  L.  Rose,  the  name  was  changed  to  the 
National  Woman  Suffrage  Association.  The 
same  year  the  present  American  Woman  Suffrage 
Association  was  formed.  Since  that  time  these 
two  organizations  for  the  same  purpose,  have 
continued  successful  work  in  different  but  con- 
verging directions.  The  National  is  perhaps  the 
more  powerful,  since  its  method  has  been,  in  great 
degree,  to  attack  the  stronghold  of  the  enemy 
itself  —  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

It  has  been  needful,  hitherto,  to  record  in  part, 
the  suffrage  work  done  in  other  states,  so  far  as  it 
was  projected  by  Massachusetts  leaders,  and  con- 
nected with  the  work  in  this  Commonwealth. 
Hereafter  the  history  of  the  movement  will  be 
more  confined  to  work  actually  done  in  Massa- 
chusetts or  in  New  England. 

In  November  1868,  the  call  for  a  New  England 
Convention  was  issued  and  the  meeting  was  held 
on  the  i8th  and  19th  of  the  same  month,  at  Hor- 
ticultural Hall,  in  Boston.  James  Freeman 
Clarke  presided.     In  this  Convention  sat  many 


48  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

of  the  distinguished  men  and  women  of  the  New 
England  States,  old  time  workers,  together  with 
newer  converts  to  the  doctrine,  who  then  and 
there  became  forever  identified  with  the  cause  of 
equal  rights  irrespective  of  sex.  John  Neal 
came  from  Maine  ;  Nathaniel  and  Armenia  White 
from  New  Hampshire ;  Isabella  Hooker  from 
Connecticut;  Thomas  W.  Higginson  from  Rhode 
Island ;  and  John  G.  Whittier,  Samuel  May,  Jr., 
Gilbert  Haven,  John  T.  Sargent,  Frank  W.  Bird, 
Wendell  Phillips,  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  William 
S.  Robinson,  Stephen  and  Abby  Kelley  Foster, 
with  a  host  of  others,  from  Massachusetts,  includ- 
ing some  of  the  distinguished  writers  for  the  old 
Dial.  Lucy  Stone  and  Henry  B.  Blackvvell,  who 
then  lived  in  New  Jersey,  were  also  among  the 
speakers. 

This  was  the  first  of  all  the  rousing  Conventions 
held  by  the  Suffragists  of  the  State,  and  in  it 
many  indifferent  people  were  made  to  see  the 
urgent  need  for  immediate  and  active  work.  The 
writer,  (who  has  since  been  no  backslider)  is  a 
living  witness  of  one,  who  at  this  time  was  re- 
awakened into  the  spirit  of  this  belief.     The  hall 


IVOMAJV  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.  49 

was  crowded  with  eager  listeners  anxious  to  hear 
what  would  be  said,  on  a  subject  thought  to  be 
ridiculous  by  a  large  majority  of  people  in  the 
community.  Some  of  the  women  teachers  of 
Boston  sent  a  letter  to  the  Convention,  signed 
with  their  names,  expressing  an  interest  in  the 
suffrage  question. 

Many  good  and  well  remembered  speeches  were 
made.  Henry  Wilson  avowed  his  belief  in  the 
equal  rights  of  woman,  but  thought  the  time  had 
not  yet  come  for  such  a  consummation,  and  said 
that,  for  this  reason  he  had  voted  against  the 
question  in  the  United  States  Senate;  "though," 
he  continued,  "I  was  afterwards  ashamed  of 
having  so  voted."  Like  another  celebrated  Mas- 
sachusetts politician,  he  believed  in  the  principle 
of  the  thing,  but  was  "  agin  its  enforcement.^^  This 
Convention  excited  a  great  interest  in  the  com- 
munity, and  in  spirit  resembled  the  old  Anti- 
Slavery  Conventions.  Slavery  had  long  been 
abolished ;  and  at  this  date,  the  Woman  Suffrage 
question  began  entirely  to  supersede  in  popular 
interest  the  old  Anti-Slavery  question.  The 
negro  was  now  no  better  than  anybody  else.  He 
4 


50  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

had  had  his  day;  and  it  was  now  the  woman's 
hour. 

The  New  England  Woman  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion was  formed  at  the  1868  Convention.  JuHa 
Ward  Howe  was  elected  its  President,  and  made 
her  first  known  address  on  the  subject  of  woman's 
equality  with  man.  Because  of  this  action,  the 
women  of  the  country  will  never  cease  to  honor 
her.  At  the  right  moment,  she  sacrificed  the 
literary  leisure  so  dear  to  her ;  and,  in  defiance  of 
conventional  traditions  and  usages,  came  to  work 
upon  an  unpopular  platform,  for  a  weak  and 
doubtful  cause.  On  the  executive  board  were 
representative  names  from  the  six  New  England 
states. 

By  the  formation  of  this  Society,  a  great 
impetus  was  given  to  the  Suffrage  cause  in  New 
England,  and  in  the  country.  It  planned  at  once 
a  system  by  which  petitions  and  memorials  were 
sent  annually  to  the  different  State  Legislatures, 
and  to  Congress.  It  asked  for,  and  obtained 
hearings  before  these  bodies.  It  held  conven- 
tions and  mass  meetings,  printed  tracts  and 
documents,   and   put   lecturers  in  the  field.      It 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         51 

set  in  motion  two  Woman  Sujffrage  Bazars,  and 
organized  Subscription  Festivals,  and  other  enter- 
prises to  raise  money  to  carry  on  the  work.  It 
projected  the  American,  and  Massachusetts  Suf- 
frage Associations;  it  urged  the  formation  of 
local  and  county  Suffrage  societies,  and  set  up 
the  WomaJt's  jfoiirnal. 

The  Hampden  Coun'ty  Society  was  started  the 
same  year  (1868),  with  Eliphalet  Trask,  Frank  B. 
Sanborn  and  Margaret  W.  Campbell  as  leading 
officers.  This  was  the  first  county  society  formed 
in  the  State.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  a  fresh  convert 
of  the  Convention  of  1868,  went  to  Salem  to 
lecture  on  Woman  Suffrage,  and  the  Essex  County 
Society  was  formed  with  Mrs.  Sarah  G.  Wilkins 
and  Mrs.  Delight  R.  P.  Hewitt  (the  only  two 
Salem  women  who  went  to  the  1850  Convention 
at  Worcester),  on  its  executive  board.  The  Mid- 
dlesex County  Society  followed,  planned  by  Ada 
C.  Bowles  and  officered  by  names  well  known 
in  that  historic  old  county.  The  Hampshire 
and  Worcester  County  Societies  brought  up  the 
rear ;  the  former  planned  by  Seth  Hunt  of 
Northampton,  the  latter  presided  over  by  Rev. 


MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 


Rush  R.  Shippen.  Local  societies  were  soon 
after  formed  in  Maiden,  Lynn,  Salem,  Taunton, 
and  in  numerous  other  cities  and  towns. 

The  New  England  Association  held  its  first 
anniversary  in  May  1869,  and  the  meeting  was 
even  more  success-ful  than  the  opening  one  of  the 
preceding  year.  On  this  occasion  Mrs.  Liver- 
more  made  her  debut  in  Boston,  as  a  platform 
orator.  She  had  spoken  the  year  before,  in 
Springfield,  by  Mrs.  Campbell's  invitation,  at  the 
formation  of  the  Hampden  County  Society.  The 
newspapers  said  that  this  lady  spoke  even  better 
than  she  had  done  at  a  recent  meeting  in  New 
York  city,  and  that  Mrs.  Howe  presided  with 
dignity.  Such  praise  from  the  "  Sir  Huberts  "  of 
the  press,  meant  something  in  these  early  days 
of  woman's  appearance  as  orator,  or  presiding 
officer. 

Many  new  names  came  to  the  front  at  this  date, 
to  give  freshness  and  vigor  to  the  movement.  The 
most  important  were  those  of  Ednah  D.  Cheney, 
Rev.  C.  A.  Bartol,  Rev.  F.  E.  Abbott,  Rev. 
Phoebe  A.  Hanaford  and  Hon.  George  F.  Hoar. 
Wendell  Phillips  and  Lucy  Stone  both  spoke  at 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         53 

the  1869  Convention,  and  Gilbert  Haven  made 
a  masterly  argument  from  the  Bible  in  favor  of 
the  equality  of  the  sexes,  using  the  same  texts 
commonly  brought  forward  in  favor  of  woman's 
subjection  to  man.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that 
the  "good  Bishop,"  as  he  afterwards  came  to  be 
called,  was  met  on  leaving  the  meeting,  by  one 
who  did  not  know  his  opinion  on  the  subject. 
This  person  expressed  surprise  on  seeing  him 
at  a  Woman's  Rights  meeting,  and  said:  "  What ! 
you  here  ?  "  "  Yes,"  said  he,  "  I  am  here  !  I 
believe  in  the  thing,  and  I'm  not  going  to  wait  to 
come  in  at  the  tag  end  of  this  reform.  I  am 
going  to  start  in  the  beginning,  and  ride  with 
the  procession."  After  this,  not  until  his  earthly 
journey  was  finished,  was  his  place  in  "the  pro- 
cession "  found  vacant. 

Since  1869  the  New  England  Association  has 
held  its  annual  meeting  in  Boston  during  Anni- 
versary week,  (the  last  week  in  May),  when  reports 
from  various  states  are  offered,  concerning  suf- 
frage work  done  during  the  year.  The  names  on 
the  executive  board  of  the  New  England  Associ- 
ation represent  some  of  the  best  working  material 


54  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

of  the  movement,  and  at  its  quarterly  meetings, 
new  methods    of   carrying   on    the   general    and 
local  work  are  often  proposed.     The  latest  and 
most  valuable  suggestion  was   made  by  Rev.  F. 
A.  Hinckley,  Chairman  of  the  board  of  1879-80. 
Seeing  the   necessity  of   making   an   attempt  to 
circulate  in  new  channels  the  doctrine  of  Woman 
Suffrage,  he  proposed  in  his  annual  report  before 
the  Convention,   that   a  new  effort  be  made   to 
reach  the  people  through  the  public  press.    Acting 
upon  this  suggestion,  means  were  taken  to  secure 
the  insertion  of  a  weekly  article,  upon  some  phase 
of  Woman's  Rights,  in  a  leading  New  England 
newspaper.     The  Sunday  Herald  was  selected  as 
the  one  likely  to  reach  the  largest  variety  of  read- 
ers.    The  result  of  this  action  was  that  for  many 
successive    weeks,    articles    written    by   leading 
women  in  favor  of  this  cause,  were  read  by  men 
and  women  in  the  near  and  remote  cities  and  vil- 
lages of  New  England.     It  is  not  easy  to  estimate 
the  influence  upon  public  opinion  of  this  novel 
method  of  presenting  the  subject. 

The  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association,  a 
National  organization,  was  started  in   1869,  by 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         55 

the  New  England  Association.  Since  its  forma- 
tion, it  has  held  its  annual  convention  in  Ohio, 
New  York,  Michigan,  Pennsylvania,  Indiana, 
Washington,  D.  C,  and  in  other  places. 

The  call  for  a  Convention  to  form  the  Massa- 
chusetts Woman  Suffrage  Association,  was  signed 
by  some  of  the  leading  suffragists  of  the  State, 
with  many  others,  whose  names  have  since  added 
lustre  to  the  movement.  The  meeting  was  held 
in  Horticultural  Hall  in  Boston,  Jan.  28,  1870. 
Lucy  Stone,  M.  A.  Livermore,  S.  S.  and  A.  K. 
Foster,  H.  B.  Blackwell,  Rev.  W.  H.  Channing, 
Rev.  J.  F.  Clarke,  Rev.  Gilbert  Haven,  Julia 
Ward  Howe  and  Elizabeth  K.  Churchill  made 
eloquent  speeches.  Susan  B.  Anthony  and 
Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  were  among  the  noted 
guests  from  other  states. 

Mrs.  Stanton  had  the  then  unprecedented  honor 
of  being  entertained  by  the  famous  Bird  Club  of 
Boston  at  one  of  its  weekly  dinners.*     On  being 

*  This  was  long  before  the  era  of  "  Ladies'  Night,"  a 
pleasant  fashion  lately  introduced  by  the  Papyrus  and  other 
gentlemen's  clubs  of  Boston.  At  the  time  Mrs.  Stanton 
was  the  guest  of  the  "Bird  Club,"  even  the  Atlantic 
Monthly  did   not   include    its  women  writers    among  the 


56  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

questioned  as  to  the  significance  of  this  unwonted 
action  on  the  part  of  the  gentlemen  diners  at  the 
club,  one  of  them  remarked,  that  he  was  by  no 
means  sure  that  Mrs.  Stanton's  presence  at  the 
dinner  indicated  any  new  light  on  the  question  of 
Woman  Suffrage,  but  he  added,  "  I  am  sure  that 
the  company  of  intelligent  ladies  is  the  most 
pleasant  company  intelligent  men  can  have,  and 
vice  versa. ''^ 

The  Massachusetts  Association  is  the  most 
active  of  the  three  Associations  named.  Its  work 
is  generally  local,  though  it  has  sent  help  to 
Colorado,  Michigan,  and  other  Western  places. 
For  ten  years  it  has  kept  petitions  in  circulation, 
and  has  presented  petitions  and  memorials  to 
the  State  Legislatures.  It  has  asked  for  Hearings 
and  secured  able  speakers  for  them.  It  has  held 
Conventions,  Mass  Meetings,  Fourth  of  July 
Celebrations,  and  in  1873,  a  Centennial  Tea 
Party.  It  has  helped  organize  local  Woman 
Suffrage  Clubs  and  Societies,  and  so  far  as  means 

invited  guests  to  the  "Contributors'  Dinner."  May  28, 
1881,  the  "Bird  Club''  again  entertained  Mrs.  Stantonj 
also  Susan  B.  Anthony  and  Harriet  H.  Robinson. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVE  ME  NT.         57 

were  found  for  that  purpose,  it  has  printed  for 
circulation  Woman  Suffrage  tracts  and  kept  lec- 
turers in  the  field.  The  amount  of  work  done, 
in  agitating  and  diffusing  the  subject,  by  these 
lecturing  agents,  can  be  seen  by  the  statement  of 
Margaret  W.  Campbell,  who  alone,  as  agent  of  the 
American,  the  New  England  and  the  Massachu- 
setts Suffrage  Associations,  travelled  in  twenty 
different  states  and  two  territories,  organizing 
and  speaking  for  Suffrage  Conventions.  Mary 
F.  Eastman,  Ada  C.  Bowles,  Lorenza  Haynes, 
Elizabeth  K.  Churchill,  Huldah  B.  Loud,  Matilda 
Hindman  and  other  agents  in  the  lecture  field 
have  also  done  a  great  deal  of  missionary  work. 

The  Massachusetts  Suffrage  Association  pro- 
jected the  political  movement  of  1870,  and  later, 
managed  all  political  action  except  during  the 
existence  of  a  Woman  Suffrage  State  Central 
Committee.  With  the  latest  work  of  this  society 
might  be  mentioned  its  efforts  to  present  before 
the  women  of  the  State  in  clear  and  comprehen- 
sive form,  an  explanation  of  the  different  sections 
of  the  new  law  "allowing  women  to  vote  for 
school  committees."     As  soon  as  this  law  passed 


58  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

the  Legislature  of  1879,  a  circular  of  instruc- 
tions to  women  was  carefully  prepared  by 
Samuel  E.  Sewall,  an  eminent  lawyer  and  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  the  Massachusetts  Woman 
Suffrage  Association,  in  which  all  the  points  of 
law  in  relation  to"  the  new  right  were  ably  pre- 
sented. Thousands  of  this  circular  of  instruc- 
tions were  sent  to  women  all  over  the  State, 
and  the  information  contained  in  it  was  of  so 
great  value  that  it  was  made  the  basis  of  all  other 
"Instructions  to  Women"  upon  the  subject  of 
voting  under  the  new  law.* 

*  The  last  flank  movement  of  the  executive  board  of  this 
association  was  directed  upon  the  town  meetings  of  the 
State.  The  law  regulating  the  matter  provides  that  if  ten 
voters  (male)  petition  the  selectmen  to  insert  any  article 
in  the  warrant  for  a  town  meeting,  it  then  becomes  their 
legal  dut}^  to  see  that  such  article  is  inserted.  A  sub-com- 
mittee of  the  board  having  the  matter  in  charge,  took 
means  whereby  the  following  article  was  introduced  into  a 
great  many  of  the  different  town  warrants,  —  "To  see 
whether  the  Town  will,  by  its  vote  or  otherwise,  ask  the 
Legislature  to  extend  to  women  who  are  citizens,  the  right 
to  hold  Town  offices  and  to  vote  in  Town  affairs  on  the 
same  terms  as  male  citizens."  In  many  towns,  this  article 
was  at  once  dismissed  as  unworthy  of  notice  or  discussion, 
but  in  others  warm  debates  arose,  which  were  worth  more  to 
the  cause  of  Woman's  Rights  than  if  favorable  action  had 
been  taken.  Fourteen  towns  endorsed  the  article  by  a  good 
majority.  Ashby,  Leicester,  Rockland,  Plainfield,  Lexington 
and  Wrentham  deserve  special  mention. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOV^EMENT.  59 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  Massachusetts 
Association  is  held  in  January.  Then  reports 
are  presented  from  the  various  local  societies, 
and  the  social,  political,  and  legal  phases  of  the 
subject  of  Woman's  Rights  are  ably  discussed. 
The  record  of  conventions  and  meetings  held  by 
the  Massachusetts  Association  by  no  means  in- 
cludes all  similar  gatherings  held  in  different 
towns  and  cities  of  the  State.  The  county  and 
local  societies  have  done  a  vast  amount  of  work  in 
agitating  the  suffrage  cause.  For  instance,  three 
notable  conventions  were  held  by  the  Middlesex 
County  Society  in  1876.*  One  in  Maiden,  one 
in  Melrose,  and  one  in  Concord.  This  last 
celebrated  town  had  never  before  been  so  favored. 
The  friends  of  the  movement  are  found  in  all  the 
Women's  Clubs,  Temperance  Associations,  Mis- 
sionary Movements,  Charitable  Enterprises  and 
Church  Committees.  These  agencies  form  a 
net-work  of  motive  power,  which  is  gradually 
carr}'ing  the  reform  into  all  branches  of  public 
work. 

To  close  the  history  of  the  movement  as  carried 
*  For  records  of  these  conventions,  see  Appendix  G. 


6o  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

on  for  thirty  years  by  the  machinery  of  conven- 
tions, it  will  be  well  to  mention  the  culminating 
meeting  of  the  kind,  held  in  Worcester  to  cele- 
brate the  30th  anniversary  of  the  first  Massachu- 
setts Woman's  Rights  Convention.  At  the  annual 
Convention  of  the-  Massachusetts  Association,  in 
May  1880,  the  following  resolution  was  passed  : 

Whereas  :  We  believe  in  keeping  the  land- 
marks and  traditions  of  our  movement,  and 

Whereas  :  It  will  be  thirty  years  next  October, 
since  the  first  Woman's  Rights  meeting  was  held 
in  the  State,  and  it  seems  fitting  that  there  should 
be  some  celebration  of  the  event,  therefore 

Resolved :  That  we  will  hold  a  Woman  Suffrage 
Jubilee,  in  Worcester,  on  the  23d  and  24th  of 
October  next,  to  commemorate  the  anniversary  of 
our  first  Convention. 

On  the  committee  chosen  for  this  work  were 
the  names  of  two  of  the  original  committee  of 
1850,  Lucy  Stone  and  Abby  Kelley  Foster. 

The  Thirtieth  Anniversary  Convention*  was 
held  in  Worcester,  October  20th  and  21st,  1880, 
the  same  days  of  the  week  on  which  the  first  Con- 

*  For  particulars  of  this  Convention  see  Appendix  H. 


IVOJ/A.V  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         6l 

vention  was  held,  and  many  of  the  old  workers 
and  friends  met  once  more  to  congratulate  each 
other  on  the  results  of  thirty  years  of  labor. 
Rev.  William  H.  Channing,  Rev.  Samuel  May, 
Lucy  Stone,  Mary  A.  Livermore,  Mary  F.  East- 
man, Kate  N.  Doggett,  Rev.  F.  A.  Hinckley, 
Ednah  D.  Cheney,  Antoinette  Brown  Blackwell, 
T.  Wentworth  Higginson,  Isabella  Beecher 
Hooker,  Anna  Garlin  Spencer,  Dr.  Martha  H. 
Mowrey  and  Julia  E.  Smith  Parker  made  elo- 
quent speeches.  Harriet  H.  Robinson  read  a 
condensed  history  of  Massachusetts  in  the  Woman 
Suffrage  Movement.  Interesting  letters  were 
received  from  Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps,  F.  W. 
Bird,  H.  B.  Blackwell,  Margaret  W.  Campbell, 
Mrs.  C.  I.  H.  Nichols  and  Frances  D.  Gage. 
Two  original  Woman  Suffrage  songs  written  by 
Anna  Q.  T.  Parsons  and  Caroline  A.  Mason, 
were  sung  on  the  occasion. 

The  news  of  the  death  of  Lydia  Maria  Child, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-eight,  which  came  just  as 
the  Convention  went  into  session,  caused  both 
sorrow  and  joy  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  were 
present.      Sorrow  at   the  great  loss  the  woman 


62  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

cause  would  suffer  in  her  death ;  joy,  that  she  had 
been  permitted  to  see,  before  leaving  this  part  of 
her  life,  the  reform  for  which  she  had  so  long 
labored,  advanced  so  far,  and  placed  so  securely, 
that  in  the  progress  of  events,  there  could  be  for 
it,  no  step  backward."* 

The  Woma?i's  journal,  the  only  Woman  Suf- 
frage newspaper  ever  published  in  Massachusetts, 
was  set  up  by  the  New  England  Association,  in 

*  In  passing,  it  may  be  well  to  allude  to  the  last  Conven- 
tion of  the  Massachusetts  Woman  Suffrage  Association 
held  January  27  and  28,  1881,  as  illustrating  the  perfec- 
tion of  the  American  machinery  of  conventions.  The 
Committee  of  Arrangements  were  Mr.  S.  C.  Hopkins, 
Mrs.  J.  W.  Smith  and  Mrs.  C.  P.  Nickles.  They  engaged 
the  twenty-five  speakers,  appointed  the  time  of  speaking, 
and  saw  that  each  one  knew  his,  or  her  hour,  a  week  before- 
hand. This  was  the  best  and  most  systematically  arranged 
Convention  ever  held  in  Massachusetts.  One  of  the 
avowed  objects  of  the  Convention  was  to  secure  the  ser- 
vices of  new,  and  if  possible  young  speakers.  For  this 
purpose,  there  were  invited  a  number  of  persons  who  had 
never  before  been  on  the  Woman  Suffrage  platform. 
Among  these  young  speakers  were  William  Ingram  Haven, 
the  only  son  of  Bishop  Gilbert  Haven,  and  immediately  fol- 
lowing him,  Mrs.  Harriette  Robinson  Shattuck,  the  elder 
daughter  of  "Warrington."  It  is  a  noteworthy  incident, 
that  these  two  children,  of  noble  fathers,  should  have  made 
on  the  same  day,  their  first  speech  in  the  cause  of  Woman 
Suffrage.  Mr.  H.  B.  Blackwell,  in  his  speech  on  the  same 
afternoon,  made  a  very  happy  point  of  this  coincidence. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         63 

1869.  It  was  incorporated  in  1870,  and  is  owned 
by  a  joint  stock  compan}'-,  shares  being  held  by- 
leading  Suffragists,  and  Suffrage  Associations  of 
New  England.  Shortly  after  it  was  projected, 
the  Agitator,  then  published  in  Chicago  by  Mrs. 
M.  A.  Livermore,  was  bought  by  the  New  Eng- 
land Association,  on  condition  that  that  lady 
should  "  come  to  Boston  for  one  year  at  a  reason- 
able compensation,  to  assist  the  cause  by  her 
editorial  labor,  and  speaking  at  Conventions." 
Lucy  Stone  and  Henry  B.  Blackwell  were  invited 
by  the  same  Society  to  "  return  to  the  work  in 
Massachusetts  "  and  they  at  once  assumed  the 
editorial  charge.  T.  W.  Higginson,  Julia  Ward 
Howe,  and  W.  L.  Garrison  were  assistant  editors. 
"Warrington,"  Kate  N.  Doggett,  Samuel  E. 
Sewall,  F.  B.  Sanborn,  and  many  other  good 
writers,  lent  a  helping  hand  to  the  new  enterprise. 
The  Woman's  yoiirnal  has  been  of  great  value 
to  the  cause,  and  has  made  the  woman  movement 
everywhere  better  known  and  appreciated.  It 
has  helped  individual  women,  and  brought  their 
enterprises  into  public  notice.  It  has  opened  its 
columns  to  inexperienced  writers,  and  advertised 


64  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

gratuitously,  budding  speakers.  Its  able  editorials 
and  articles  are  often  widely  copied,  and  in  them 
the  news  of  what  the  women  of  the  United  States 
are  doing,  is  carried  into  all  parts  of  the  civilized 
world.  Through  its  columns,  the  other  day  was 
sent  intelligence  of  the  fact,  that  at  last,  after  a 
century  of  disfranchisement,  the  women  of  New 
Hampshire,  of  Massachusetts,  of  New  York  and 
of  other  states  were  given  their  first  right  to  the 
ballot. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  that  a  reform 
paper  is  not  self-supporting.  To  sustain  the 
Womati^s  yoiinial  and  furnish  money  for  other 
suffrage  work,  two  mammoth  Bazars  or  Fairs 
were  held  in  1870  and  in  187 1  in  Music  Hall, 
Boston.  Nearly  all  the  New  England  States,  and 
many  of  the  towns  in  Massachusetts  were  repre- 
sented by  sale-tables  in  these  Bazars ;  and  as  is 
usual,  donations  were  sent  from  all  directions, 
and  the  women  worked,  as  women  will  work  for 
a  cause  in  which  they  are  interested,  to  raise 
money  to  furnish  the  sinews  of  war.  Many  of 
them  stood  day  after  day  behind  sale-tables,  or 
worked  in  the  cafd  as  caterers  and  waiters.     Wo- 


WOMAN-  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         65 

men  in  whose  veins  ran  some  of  the  best  blood 
of  New  England,  did  not  hesitate  even  at  that 
early  date  to  become  identified  with  the  Woman 
Suffrage  reform. 

The  newspapers  from  day  to  day  were  full  of 
descriptions  of  the  splendors  of  the  tables,  and 
the  reporters  spoke  well  of  the  women  who  had 
taken  this  novel  method  to  carry  on  their  move- 
ment. People  who  had  never  heard  of  Woman 
Suffrage  before,  came,  impelled  by  curiosity,  to 
see  what  sort  of  women  were  those,  who  thus 
made  a  public  exhibition  of  their  zeal  in  this 
cause.  It  was  a  great  time  to  show  one's  colors 
on  this  subject,  and  to  make  converts  to  the  new 
doctrine.  It  was  a  great  time  for  meeting  and 
congratulation  with  co-workers  from  all  over  the 
New  England  States.  In  remote  places,  as  well 
as  nearer  the  scene  of  action,  many  people  who 
had  never  thought  of  the  significance  of  the 
Woman's  Rights  Movement,  came  to  hear  of  and 
consider  it,  through  reading  the  reports  of  the 
Woman  Suffrage  Bazars. 

In  closing  the  general  history  of  the  technical 
work  of  the  Massachusetts  Suffragists,  it  need  not 
5 


66  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

be  said  how  actively  it  has  been  pushed  since 
the  organization  of  the  Association  in  1870.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  enumerate  the  conventions 
held  during  that  time,  the  names  of  individual 
speakers,  the  number  and  quality  of  the  speeches 
made,  or  the  hours  upon  hours  of  committee  work 
which  has  been  done.  In  the  little  mentioned  a 
great  deal  must  be  understood.  The  names  are 
legion  of  the  workers  who  have  come  forward 
since  1870,  and  they  deserve  a  chapter  by  them- 
selves. These  earnest  men  and  women,  not  only 
as  brilliant  leaders  but  also  as  faithful  members 
of  the  "rank  and  the  file,"  have,  by  being  ever 
ready  to  act  at  the  right  moment,  given  a  lasting 
impetus  to  this  great  reform. 


WOMAN-  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         67 


CHAPTER  IV. 

POLITICAL    HISTORY.       1870 — 1880. 

If  birthright,  if  American  democratic  ideas,  confer  the 
right  to  vote,  or  if  capacity  alone  confers  it, — either  way, 
the  claim  of  woman  is  irrefragable  ;  and  all  there  is  left,  is 
the  debate  among  the  voters,  as  to  whether  they  will,  or 
how  soon  they  will,  yield  that  mere  exercise  of  forceful 
authority,  which  is  the  only  tenure  of  their  superiority  in 
politics,  and  in  government.  "  Warrington." 

[  >OLITICAL  agitation  on  the  Woman  Suffrage 
question  began  in  Massachusetts  early  in 
1870,  and  a  mass  convention  was  held  in  Bos- 
ton to  discuss  the  feasibility  of  forming  a  Woman 
Suffrage  political  party.  Julia  Ward  Howe  pre- 
sided and  Rev.  Augusta  Chapin  offered  prayer. 
The  subject  was  ably  discussed  by  Lucy  Stone, 
Rev.  J.  T.  Sargent,  A.  Bronson  Alcott,  H.  B. 
Blackwell,  Dr.  Mercy  B.  Jackson,  S.  S.  Foster, 
Mary  A.  Li  verm  ore,    Rev.  B.  F.  Bowles,    F.  B. 


6S  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

Sanborn,  W.  S.  Robinson    ("  Warrington  "),  Gil« 
bert  Haven  and  many  others. 

The  question  of  a  separate  nomination  for 
State  officers  was  carefully  considered.  Dele- 
gates were  present  from  the  Labor  Reform  and 
the  Prohibitory  party,  and  strong  efforts  were 
made  by  them  to  induce  the  Convention  to  nomi- 
nate Wendell  Phillips,  who  had  already  accepted 
the  nomination  of  these  two  parties,  as  candidate 
for  Governor.  The  Convention  ^t  one  time 
seemed  strongly  in  favor  of  this  action,  the  wo- 
men in  particular,  thinking  that  in  Wendell 
Phillips,  they  should  find  a  staunch  and  well 
tried  leader.  But  wiser  or  more  politic  counsels 
prevailed,  and  it  was  finally  concluded  to  post- 
pone a  separate  nomination  until  after  the  Re- 
publican and  Democratic  conventions  had  been 
held. 

A  Woman  Suffrage  State  Central  Committee 
was  formed,  and  began  at  once  active  political 
work.  A  memorial  was  prepared  to  present  to 
each  of  the  last-named  conventions,  and  the  can- 
didates on  the  State  ticket  of  tlie  four  political 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         69 

parties  of  Massachusetts,  were  questioned  by- 
letter  concerning  their  opinions  on  the  right  of 
the  women  of  the  State  to  the  ballot.  In  answer 
to  this  letter  many  of  the  candidates  for  State 
offices  of  the  Republican,  the  Prohibitory,  and 
the  Labor  Reform  parties  responded  favorably. 

When  the  Memorial  prepared  by  the  State 
Cential  Committee  was  presented  to  the  Demo- 
cratic State  Convention,  that  body,  in  response, 
passed  a  resolution  conceding  \h^  principle  of  wo- 
men's right  to  suffrage,  but  at  the  same  time 
declared  itself  against  its  being  enforced,  or  put 
into  practice.  To  finish  the  brief  record  of  the 
dealings  of  the  Democratic  party,  with  the  Suffrat- 
gists  of  the  State,  and  the  question  of  women's 
rights  according  to  Democratic  principles,  it  may 
as  well  be  said  here,  that  since  1870  it  has  never 
responded  to  the  appeals  of  the  Suffragists,  nor 
taken  action  of  importance,  in  Convention,  on 
this  question.  The  Democratic  party  has  broken 
no  promises  to  the  women,  because  it  has  made 
none.  Though  a  party  of  the  people,  as  its  name 
implies  (in  the  dictionary),  it  has  hitherto  been 


70  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 


inconsistently  against  equal  suffrage  —  or  a  gov- 
ernment "  by  the  people." 

At  the  Republican  State  Convention  held  Oc- 
tober 5,  1870,  the  question  was  fairly  launched 
into  politics,  by  the  admission  (for  the  first  time) 
of  two  women,  Lucy  Stone  and  Mary  A.  Liver- 
more,  as  regularly  accredited  delegates.  Both 
ladies  were  invited  to  speak,  and  Mrs.  Livermore 
at  the  close  of  her  address  presented  the  follow- 
ing memorial : 

To  the  Republican  Convention  of  the  State  of  Mas- 
sachusetts : 

The  undersigned,  having  been  appointed  a 
State  Central  Committee  by  the  frieiids  of  Woman 
Suffrage  assembled  in  Convention  at  Tremont 
Temple  in  Boston,  on  the  29th  day  of  September, 
1870,  are  instructed  by  and  on  behalf  of  said 
Convention  to  lay  before  your  Honorable  Body 
the  following 

MEMORIAL. 

We  respectfully  represent 

That  in  violation  of  the  Bill  of  Rights  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  which  expressly 


WOMAN-  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         7 1 

affirms  that  "  all  power  resides  originally  in  the 
People  and  is  derived  from  them,"  the  women  of 
Massachusetts — one-half  of  the  entire  people  — 
are  excluded  from  political  power. 

That  in  violation  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
efice,  which  declares  that  **  Governments  derive 
their  just  power  from  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned," all  the  women  of  Massachusetts  are 
governed  without  consent. 

That  in  violation  of  the  fundamental  principle 
of  Representative  Government  that  "  Taxation 
without  Representation  is  Tyranny,"  every  woman 
in  Massachusetts  who  is  the  owner  of  property 
is  taxed  without  representation  and  has  no  voice 
in  the  amount  or  expenditure  of  the  taxes  she  is 
compelled  to  pay. 

We  therefore  respectfully  request  that  this 
Convention  of  the  Republican  party,  which  has 
abolished  political  distinctions  on  account  of  race, 
color  or  previous  condition  of  servitude,  will  de- 
clare itself  by  resolution  opposed  to  political 
distinctions  on  account  of  sex,  and  in  favor  of  so 
amending  our   State   Constitution  as  to  extend 


72  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

suffrage  to  women  on  the  same  terms  and  quali- 
fications as  are  prescribed  for  men. 

Julia  Ward  Howe, 
Jacob  M.  Manning,  D.  D. 
Lucy  Stone, 
Henry  B.  Blackwell, 
Margaret  W.  Campbell, 
Jesse  H.  Jones, 
George  H.  Vibbert, 
Mary  A.  Livermore, 
Wm.  G.  Gordon, 
Seth  Hunt, 

James  Freeman  Clarke, 
ZiLPHA  Spooner, 
Woman  Suffrage  State  Central  Committee. 

The  three  following  resolutions  (drawn  up  by 
Henry  B.  Blackwell)  were  then  offered  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Republican  party  of  Massa- 
chusetts is  mindful  of  its  obligations  to  the  loyal 
women  of  America  for  their  patriotic  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  liberty;  that  we  rejoice  in  the  action 
of  the  recent  Legislature  in  making  women 
eligible,  as  officers  of  the  State ;  that  we  thank 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         73 

Governor  Claflin  for  having  appointed  women  to 
important  political  trusts ;  that  we  are  heartily  in 
favor  of  the  enfranchisement  of  women,  and  will 
hail  the  day  when  the  educated,  intelligent  and 
enlightened  conscience  of  the  women  of  Massa- 
chusetts is  in  direct  expression  at  the  ballot  box. 

Resolved^  That  there  is  no  logical  or  reasonable 
answer  to  the  claim  of  suffrage  and  civil  equality 
for  women  ;  that  the  subject  is  not  to  be  treated 
with  ridicule  or  sarcasm,  and  that  when  the  wo- 
men of  the  state  or  the  nation  demand  equal 
political  rights,  those  rights  must  be  granted  and 
secured  by  a  constitutional  amendment. 

Resolved^  That  the  Republican  party  of  Massa- 
chusetts, having  aided  in  abolishing  political 
distinctions  on  account  of  race,  should  now,  in 
consistency  with  its  principles,  proceed  to  abolish 
political  distinctions  on  account  of  sex,  and  to 
establish  in  the  Commonwealth  a  Government  of 
the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people, 
upon  the  basis  of  impartial  suffrage  for  men  and 
women. 

The  first  resolution  was  presented  to  the  Com- 


74  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

mittee  on  Resolutions,*  who  did  not  agree  as  to 
the  propriety  of  reporting  it  to  the  Convention, 
and  they  instructed  their  Chairman,  George  F. 
Hoar,  to  state  the  fact  and  refer  the  resolution 
back  to  that  body  for  its  own  action.  A  warm 
debate  arose,  in  which  several  members  of  the 
Convention  made  long  remembered  speeches  on 
both  sides  of  the  question.  The  resolution  was 
finally  defeated,  137  voting  in  its  favor,  and  196 
voting  against  it.  Although  this  resolution  was 
defeated  the  large  vote  in  the  affirmative  was 
thought  to  mean  a  great  deal  as  a  guarantee 
of  the  good  faith  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
the    women    were    willing    to    remain     inactive 

*  Committee  on  Resolutions  of  the  Republican  Con- 
vention of  1870,  were : 

At  Large — Hon.  George  F.  Hoar,  Worcester;  Robert 
Johnson,  Boston ;  Hon.  Harvey  Jewell,  Boston ;  William 
S.  Robinson,  Maiden. 

Suffolk — Hon.  H.  H.  Coolidge  of  Boston.  Middle- 
sex— Hon.  David  H.  Mason  of  Newton.  Essex — James 
B.  Wildes  of  Lawrence.  Hampden — Hon.  A.  D.  Briggs 
of  Springfield.  Hampshire — Hon.  H.  G.  Knight  of  East- 
hampton.  Plymouth — Charles  G.  Davis  of  Plymouth. 
Berkshire— Hon.  S,  Johnson  of  Adams.  Franklin — 
Lewis  Merriam  of  Greenfield.  Norfolk — Hon.  J.  M. 
Churchill  of  Milton.  Worcester — Hon.  John  D.  Baldwin 
of  Worcester. 


fVOAIAAT  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         75 

and  trust  to  its  promises.  It  was  thought  then, 
as  it  has  been  thought  since,  that  most  of  the 
friends  of  Woman  Suffrage  were  in  the  Republi- 
can party,  and  that  the  interests  of  the  cause  could 
best  be  furthered  by  depending  on  its  action. 
Tlie  women  were,  however,  mistaken,  as  they 
have  since  found  out,  and  they  have  learned  to 
look  upon  the  famous  resolution  in  its  true  light. 
It  is  now  known  as  the  coup  d'etat  of  the  Wor- 
cester Convention  of  1870,  which  really  got  more 
votes  than  it  was  fairly  entitled  to.  After  that, — 
"forewarned,  forearmed,"  said  the  enemies  of 
the  enterprise,  and  Woman  Suffrage  planks  (or 
resolutions)  have  received  less  and  less  votes  in 
Republican  Conventions. 

In  187 1  a  resolution  endorsing  Woman  Suffrage 
was  passed  in  the  Republican  State  Convention. 
In  June,  1872,  the  National  Republican  Con- 
vention at  Philadelphia,  passed  the  following: 
Resolved:  "The  Republican  party  is  mindful  of 
its  obligations  to  the  loyal  women  of  America  for 
their  noble  devotion  to  the  cause  of  freedom  j 
their  admission  to  wider  fields  of  usefulness  is 
viewed  with  satisfaction ;  and  the  honest  demand 


76  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

of  any  class  of  citizens  for  additional  rights, 
should  be  treated  with  respectful  consideration." 
The  Massachusetts  Republican  State  Convention, 
following  this  lead,  again  passed  a  Woman  Suf- 
frage resolution.* 

This  was  during,  the  campaign  of  1872,  when 
Gen.  Grant's  chance  of  re-election  was  thought 
to  be  somewhat  uncertain,  and  the  Republican 
women  in  all  parts  of  the  country  were  called  on, 
to  rally  to  his  support.  The  National  Woman 
Suffrage  Association  had  issued  "  an  appeal  to  the 
Women  of  America "  asking  them  to  co-operate 
with  the  Republican  party,  to  come  forward  as 
speakers  and  writers,  and  work  for  the  election  of 
its  candidates.  In  response  to  this  appeal,  a 
great  ratification  meeting  was  held  at  Tremont 
Temple,  in  Boston,  at  which  hundreds  of  women 

*  It  was  as  follows : 

Resolved:  That  we  heartily  approve  of  the  recognition 
«f  the  rights  of  Woman  contained  in  the  fourteenth  clause 
of  the  National  Republican  platform ;  that  the  Republican 
party  of  Massachusetts  as  the  representative  of  Liberty 
and  Progress,  is  in  favor  of  extending  Suffrage  to  all 
American  citizens  irrespective  of  sex,  and  will  hail  the  day 
when  the  educated  intellect  and  enlightened  conscience  of 
woman  will  find  direct  expression  at  the  ballot  box. 


WOMAiV  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.  77 

Stayed  to  a  late  hour  listening  to  speeches  made 
by  women  on  the  political  questions  of  the  day. 
An  address  was  issued  from  the  "  Republican 
women  of  Massachusetts  to  the  women  of 
America."  In  this  address  they  announced 
their  faith  in,  and  willingness  to  "trust  the 
Republican  party  and  its  candidates,  as  saying 
what  they  mean  and  meaning  what  they  say,  and 
in  view  of  their  honorable  record  we  have  no  fear 
of  betrayal  on  their  part." 

During  the  campaign,  Mrs  Livermore  and 
Lucy  Stone  took  the  stump  for  Gen.  Grant,  and 
women  agents  employed  by  the  Massachusetts 
Association  were  instructed  to  speak  for  the 
Republican  party.  Women  writers  furnished 
articles  for  the  newspapers,  and  the  Republican 
women  on  the  whole  did  as  much  effective  work 
during  the  campaign  as  if  each  one  had  been  a 
"man  and  a  voter."  They  did  everything  but 
vote !  All  this  agitation  and  stump  speaking  did 
a  good  thing  for  the  Republican  party,  but  it  did 
a  very  bad  thing  for  Woman  Suffrage,  because, 
for  a  time,  it  arrayed  other  political  parties 
against    the    movement,    and    caused    it    to    be 


78  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

thought  merely  a  party  issue,  while  it  is  too  broad 
a  question  for  such  limitation. 

General  Grant  was  re-elected  and  the  campaign 
was  over.  When  the  Legislature  met  and  the 
Woman  Suffrage  question  came  up  for  discussion, 
that  body,  composed  in  large  majority  of  Repub- 
lican representatives,  showed  the  Republican 
women  of  Massachusetts  the  difference  between 
"saying  what  you  mean  and  meaning  what  you 
say,"  the  Woman  Suffrage  bill  being  defeated  by 
a  large  majority.  The  women  learned  by  this 
experience  with  the  Republican  party,  that  noth- 
ing is  to  be  expected  of  a  political  party  as  a 
party,  while  it  is  in  power,  and  that  the  less  the 
Suffragists  have  to  do  with  the  political  parties 
the  better,  until  they  conclude  to  set  up  for  them- 
selves. 

To  close  the  subject  of  suffrage  planks,  or  reso- 
lutions in  the  platform  of  the  Republican  party,  it 
may  be  said  that  they  continued  to  be  put  in  and 
seemed  to  mean  something  until  after  1875,  when 
they  became  only  ''glittering  generalities,"  and 
were  as  devoid  of  real  meaning  or  intention  as 
any  that  were  ever  passed  by  the  old  Whig  party 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         79. 

on  the  subject  of  abolition.  After  1872  the  suf- 
frage resolutions  passed  in  Republican  Conven- 
tions were  treated,  almost  invariably,  with  .con- 
tempt by  the  representatives  chosen  by  that  party 
to  the  Legislature;  but  this  same  attempt  was 
made  year  after  year,  and  all  the  satisfaction  the 
Suffragists  got,  was  what  some  one  called  a  "new 
note  of  hand,  of  the  same  amount  as  the  other, 
never  to  be  paid  but  still  perfectly  good — as  a 
note,"  (like  the  notes  of  the  recent  bogus  "Ladies' 
Deposit  Company.") 

Yet  from  1870  to  1874  the  Republican  party 
had  the  power  to  fulfil  its  promises  to  the  Suf- 
fragists. Since  then  it  has  been  too  busy  trying 
to  keep  breath  in  its  own  body,  to  lend  a  helping 
hand  to  any  struggling  reform.  Like  the  anti- 
quated barn-yard  rooster  named  "  Old  Hail  the 
Day,"  (probably  in  memory  of  the  resolution  of 
1872,)  it  has  outlived  its  usefulness,  and  can  no 
longer  give  "  a  cotfage-rousing  crow  "  for  freedom. 
At  the  Republican  Convention  held  in  Worcester 
in  1880,  an  attempt  was  made  by  H.  B.  Elackwell 
to  introduce  a  resolution  endorsing  the  new  right 
conferred  upon  women,  in  the  recent  law  allow- 


8o  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

ing  women  to  vote  for  school  committees,  passed 
by  the  Legislature  of  1879.  This  resolution 
was  rejected  by  the  committee  on  that  subject, 
and  when  offered  in  Convention  as  an  amend- 
ment, it  was  voted  down,  without  a  single  voice 
except  that  of  the  mover  being  raised  in  its  sup- 
port. Yet  this  resolution  only  asked  a  Republican 
Convention  to  endorse  an  existing  right,  conferred 
on  the  women  of  the  State  by  a  Republican  Leg- 
islature !  A  political  party  as  a  party  of  freedom 
must  be  very  far  spent,  when  it  refuses  at  its  an- 
nual Convention,  to  endorse  an  act  passed  by  a 
Legislature,  the  majority  of  whose  members  are 
Representatives  elected  from  its  own  body. 

After  the  Suffragists  as  a  body  had  given  up 
all  hope  of  help  from  the  Republican  party  as  a 
party,  after  they  had  seen  the  futility  of  question- 
ing candidates  and  memorializing  conventions, 
and  had  begun  to  understand  how  devoid  of 
intention  were  the  resolutions  passed  in  their 
conventions,  a  new  departure  was  determined 
upon.  The  question  of  forming  a  Woman  Suf- 
frage political  party  had,  since  1870,  been  often 
discussed.     In  1875  Thomas  J.  Lothrop  proposed 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         oi 

the  formation  of  a  separate  organization.  But  it 
was  not  until  1876  that  any  real  effort  in  this  direc- 
tion was  made.  The  Prohibitory  (or  Temper- 
ance) party  sometimes  holds  the  balance  of 
political  power  in  Massachusetts,  and  many  of 
the  members  of  that  party  are  also  strong  Suffra- 
gists. The  feeling  had  been  growing  for  several 
years  that  if  forces  could  be  joined  with  the 
Prohibitionists,  some  practical  result  in  politics 
might  be  reached,  and  though  there  was  a  differ- 
ence of  opinion  on  this  subject,  nearly  all  the 
leading  Suffragists  were  willing  to  see  the  experi- 
ment tried. 

The  Prohibitory  party  had  at  its  recent  con- 
vention in  (1876),  passed  a  resolution  inviting 
the  women  to  take  part  in  its  primary  meetings, 
with  an  equal  voice  and  vote  in  the  nomination 
of  candidates  and  transaction  of  business.  Af- 
ter long  and  anxious  discussions,  the  Massachu- 
setts Woman  Suffrage  State  Central  Committee, 
in  whose  hands  all  political  action  rested,  deter- 
mined to  accept  this  invitation.  A  Woman 
Suffrage  Political  Convention  was  held,  at  which 
the  Prohibitory  candidates  were  endorsed,  and  a 
6 


82  MASSACHUSETTS  IN   THE 

joint  State  ticket  was  decided  on,  to  be  headed 
*'  Prohibition  and  Equal  Rights."  These  tickets 
were  sent  to  Suffragists  all  over  the  State,  and 
the  women  were  invited  to  go  to  the  polls  and 
distribute  them  on  election  day.  Lucy  Stone, 
Mary  A.  Livermore-  and  other  leading  speakers 
agreed  to  go  into  the  field  during  the  campaign, 
and  preparations  were  completed  by  which  it  was 
expected  both  parties  would  act  harmoniously  to- 
gether. 

Political  clubs  were  formed,  at  whose  head- 
quarters during  the  campaign  were  seen,  night 
after  night,  men  and  women  gathered  together  to 
organize  and  carry  on  political  work.  From 
some  window  of  these  head-quarters  sometimes 
hung  a  transparency,  with  "  Baker  and  Eddy " 
on  one  side,  and  "  Prohibition  and  Equal 
Rights"  on  the  other.  Caucuses,  rallies  and 
conventions  were  held  in  Chelsea,  Taunton, 
Maiden,  Lynn,  Concord,  and  other  places.  A 
Middlesex  County  (First  district)  Senatorial 
Convention  was  called  and  organized  by  women, 
and  its  proceedings  were  fully  reported  by  the 
Boston  newspapers. 


WOMAiV  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.  ^Z 

The  nominations  made  at  these  caucuses  and 
conventions  were  generally  unanimous,  and  it 
seemed  at  the  time  as  if  the  two  wings  of  the 
so  called  "  Baker  Party "  would  work  harmoni- 
ously together.  But  with  a  few  honorable 
exceptions,  the  Prohibitionists,  taking  advantage 
of  the  fact  that  the  voting  power  of  the  women 
was  over,  once  outside  the  caucus,  repudiated  the 
nominations  or  held  other  caucuses,  and  shut  the 
doors  of  entrance  in  the  faces  of  the  women  who 
represented  either  the  Suffrage  or  the  Prohibitory 
party.  This  was  the  case  invariably,  excepting 
in  towns  where  the  majority  of  the  voting 
members  of  the  Prohibitory  party  were  also 
Suffragists.  This  result  is  what  might  have  been 
expected,  since  of  what  use  or  importance  was 
this  "  woman  intruding  element "  in  the  ranks  of 
any  political  party,  with  no  vote  outside  the  cau- 
cus, or  at  the  polls  ? 

After  being  snubbed  in  one  of  their  "  Prohibit- 
ory and  Equal  Rights  "  caucuses,  the  Suffragists, 
in  a  town  in  Middlesex  County,  determined  to 
hold  another  caucus.  This  was  accordingly  done, 
and   two    "straight"    Suffrage    candidates   were 


84  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

nominated  as  town  Representatives  to  the  Legis- 
lature. A  "Woman  Suffrage  Ticket"  was  there- 
upon printed,  to  offer  to  the  voters  on  election 
day.*  The  next  question  was,  who  would  distribute 
these  ballots  most  effectively  at  the  polls.  Some 
of  the  men  Suffragists  thought  that  the  women 
themselves  ought  to  go  to  the  polls,  and  present 
in  person  the  names  of  their  candidates.  At 
first  the  women  who  had  carried  on  the  campaign 
work  so  far  shrank  from  this  last  test  of  their 
faithfulness ;  but,  after  carefully  considering  the 
matter,  they  concluded  that  it  was  the  right  thing 
to  do. 

The  repugnance  felt  at  that  time,  at  the 
thought  of  "women  going  to  the  polls"  can 
hardly  be  appreciated  to-day.  Since  the  women 
have  begun  to  vote  in  Massachusetts,  the  terror 
expressed  at  the  idea  of  such  a  proceeding  has 
somewhat  abated;  but  in  1876,  it  was  thought  to 

*  This  "  Woman  Suffrage  Ticket,"  the  first  ever  offered 
to  a  Massachusetts  voter,  received  forty-one  votes  out  of  the 
thirteen  hundred  and  forty  cast  in  all  by  the  voters  of  the 
town ;  a  larger  proportion  than  that  first  cast  by  the  old 
Liberty  party  in  Massachusetts,  which  began  with  only 
three  hundred  and  seven  votes  in  the  whole  State,  and 
ended  in  the  Free  Soil  and  Republican  party. 


WOMA.V  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.  85 

be  a  rash  and  dreadful  act  for  a  woman  to 
appear  at  the  polls,  or  near  the  ballot  box,  in 
company  with  the  men.  Some  attempt  was  made 
to  deter  these  women  from  their  purpose,  and 
horrible  stories  of  pipes  and  tobacco,  and  proba- 
ble insults  were  told ;  but  they  had  no  terrors  to 
women  who  knew  better  than  to  believe  that  their 
townsmen  and  neighbors  would  be  turned  into 
beasts  (like  the  man  in  the  fairy  tale),  for  this 
one  day  in  the  year. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  some  of  them  did 
not  "  quake  in  their  boots  "  at  this  unusual  pro- 
ceeding, but  they  had  fortified  themselves  with 
brave  words,  and  some  of  them  with  prayers  and 
tears,  for  they  were  in  earnest,  and  "  having  done 
all"  were  determined  to  "stand."  They  stood 
there  distributing  votes  from  nine  o'clock  A.  M., 
till  a  quarter  of  five  P.  M.,  only  leaving  their  po- 
sitions long  enough  to  get  a  cup  of  coffee  and  a 
lunch,  which  was  provided  at  the  head-quarters. 

It  was  a  sight  to  be  remembered,  to  see  women 
"crowned  with  honor,"  pleading  with  the  few 
colored  men  who  came  to  the  polls,  and  asking 
men  who  were  perhaps  ten  years  ago  slaves,  now 


86  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

that  the  hour  had  struck  for  them,  to  give  their 
votes  to  help  the  women  who  had  so  faithfully 
worked  for  them  when  they  were  in  bonds.  And 
so  these  women  stood  at  the  polls  and  saw  the 
freed  slave  go  by  and  vote,  and  the  newly-natu- 
ralized fellow-citizen,  and  the  blind  man,  and  the 
paralytic,  and  the  boy  of  twenty-one,  with  his 
newly-fledged  vote  (he  did  not  believe  in  Woman 
Suffrage),  and  the  drunken  man  who  did  not 
know  Hayes  from  Tilden,  and  the  man  who  read 
his  ballot  upside  down.  All  these  voted  for  the 
men  they  wanted  to  represent  them,  but  the  wo- 
men, being  neither  colored,  nor  foreign,  nor  blind, 
nor  paralytic,  nor  newly-fledged,  nor  drunk,  nor 
ignorant,  but  only  women,  could  not  vote  for  the 
men  they  wanted  to  represent  them.* 

The  women  learned  several  things  during  this 
campaign  in  Massachusetts.    One  was,  that  weak 

*  The  first  time  women  went  to  the  polls  in  Massachu- 
setts was  in  1870,  when  forty-two  women  of  Hyde  Park, 
led  by  Angelina  Grimke  Weld,  and  Sarah  Grimke,  went  to 
the  polls  on  election  day,  and  deposited  their  ballots,  in 
solemn  protest  '*  against  the  political  ostracism  of  women, 
against  leaving  every  vital  interest  of  a  majority  of  its  citi- 
zens to  the  monopoly  of  a  male  minority."  It  is  hardly 
needful  to  record  that  these  ballots  were  not  counted. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         87 

parties  are  no  more  to  be  trusted  than  strong 
ones ;  and  another,  that  men  grant  a  great  deal, 
but  not  everything,  until  the  ballot  is  placed  in 
the  hands  of  those  who  make  the  demand  upon 
them.  They  learned  also  how  political  caucuses 
and  conventions  are  managed.  The  resolution 
passed  by  the  Prohibitionists  enabled  them  to  do 
this.  So  the  great  "open  sesame"  is  reached. 
Women  have  been  to  petty  caucuses,  and  have 
remained  uncontaminated,  and  for  their  escort 
there  and  back  they  must  thank  the  Prohibitory 
party  of  1876.  It  is  but  fair  to  state,  that  since 
1876  the  Prohibitory  party  has  treated  the  Wo- 
man Suffrage  question  with  consideration.  In 
its  annual  convention  it  has  passed  resolutions 
endorsing  woman's  claims  to  political  equality, 
and  has  set  the  example  to  other  parties,  of 
admitting  women  delegates  to  seats  in  conven- 
tion. These  delegates,  however,  have  been  mem- 
bers of  the  Prohibitory  rather  than  of  the  Suf- 
frage party. 

It  will  be  understood  that  it  is  not  of  individual 
members  of  the  political  parties  of  the  State,  that 
the  Suffragists  have  reason  to  complain ;  but  of 


88  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

the  parties  themselves,  as  organized  bodies,  in 
their  dealings  with  this  question.  In  spite  of  the 
restrictions  of  party  lines,  and  the  action  of  their 
conventions,  many  members  of  all  the  political 
parties  have  rendered  the  cause  great  service 
in  private,  in  high  official  capacity,  and  as  mem- 
bers of  the  State  Legislature. 

The  result  of  efforts  to  mix  the  question  of 
equal  rights  for  woman  with  state,  or  party  poli- 
tics, has  been  briefly  but  correctly  stated.  The 
attitude  of  the  dominant  political  parties  is  to-day 
one  of  perfect  indifference.  The  weaker  ones 
hold  out  some  inducements  to  the  Suffragists,  but 
how  much  their  resolutions  or  planks  in  conven- 
tions mean,  will  be  seen  when  they  have  grown 
strong  enough  to  be  of  real  assistance  to  the 
cause.  Judging  from  past  experience,  it  is 
plainly  evident  that  if  any  further  meddling  with 
politics  is  to  be  attempted,  a  new  political  party 
should  be  formed,  having  for  its  basis  woman's 
right  to  the  ballot,  which  is  the  only  question  to 
justify  the  formation  of  such  a  party,  because  it 
is  a  question  of  absolute  right.  If  this  cannot 
be  done,  the  Suffragists    must  live  in  the  hope 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         89 

that  when  the  political  organizations,  now  so  busy 
in  attempting  to  disintegrate  each  other  have 
completed  the  work,  out  of  their  best  elements 
will  be  created  a  party,  whose  motto  "  a  pure 
ballot"  will  mean  what  it  says,  will  mean  even 
more  than  it  says,  will  mean  a  just  ballot  for  all 
American  citizens. 


90  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 


CHAPTER  V. 

LEGAL    AND     LEGISLATIVE     HISTORY, 

1691— 1881. 

"  Is  it  only  among  men  that  freedom  and  virtue  are  to 
be  united  ?  Why  should  the  slavery  that  destroys  you,  be 
considered  the  only  method  to  preserve  us?  It  has  been 
the  great  error  of  men,  and  one  that  has  worked  bitterly  on 
their  destinies,  that  they  have  made  laws  unfavorable  to 
the  intellectual  development  of  women.  Have  they  not  in 
so  doing  made  laws  against  their  children,  whom  women 
are  to  rear,  against  the  husbands  of  whom  women  are  to  be 
the  friends,  nay — sometimes  the  advisers?" 

B  ulwer-Lytton. 

TN"  the  early  history  of  Massachusetts,  when 
the  new  colony  was  governed  by  laws  set 
down  in  the  Province  Charter,  (1691,  third  year 
of  William  and  Mary)  women  were  not  excluded 
from  voting.  The  clause  in  the  Charter  relating 
to  this  matter  says :  "  The  Great  and  General 
Court  shall  consist  of  the  Governor  and  Council 
(or  assistants  for   the   time  being)  and  of  such 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         9 1 

freeholders,  as  shall  be  from  time  to  time  elected 
or  deputed  by  the  major  part  of  the  freeholders 
and  other  inhabitants  of  the  respective  towns  or 
places,  who  shall  be  present  at  such  elections." 
In  the  original  Constitution  (1780)  women  were 
excluded  from  voting  except  for  certain  State 
officers.* 

In  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1820,  the 
word  "male"  was  first  put  into  the  Constitution 
of  the  State,  in  an  amendment  to  define  the  quali- 
fications of  voters.  In  this  Convention,  a  motion 
was  made  at  three  different  times,  during  the 
passage  of  the  act,  to  strike  out  the  "intruding" 
word,  but  the  motion  was  voted  down. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  the  women  ever 
made  use  of  their  voting  right,  either  under  the 
Charter,  or  under  the  Constitution  ;  nor  is  there 
any  proof  that  they  made  objection,  either  singly 
or  in  a  body,  to  being  thus  excluded  from  the 
right  of  franchise.  General  consent,  even  of  the 
women  themselves,  was  undoubtedly  the  origin  of 
the  exclusion  of  women  from  voting.     This  w^as 

*  For  summary  of  voting  laws  relating  to  women  from 
1691  to  1822,  see  Appendix  I. 


92  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

founded,  probably,  on  the  supposition  that  only 
an  infinitesimally  small  number,  if  any,  would 
ever  want  it,  and  also  perhaps  on  the  idea  that 
the  women  of  the  country  would  always  be  in 
what  was  called  a  domestic  sphere.  Long  before 
the  second  attempt  was  made  to  revise  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  State,  both  these  reasons  were  gone. 
Large  numbers  of  women  began  to  demand  suf- 
frage, and  now  their  sphere  of  operations  and 
enterprise  had  become  so  widened,  that  they  felt 
they  had  not  only  the  right,  but  also  an  increasing 
fitness  for  civil  life  and  government,  of  which 
the  ballot  is  but  the  sign  and  the  symbol. 

In  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1853, 
twelve  petitions  were  presented,  from  over  two 
thousand  adult  persons,  asking  for  the  recognition 
of  woman's  right  to  the  ballot,  in  the  proposed 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  State. 
Abby  M.  Alcott,  wife  of  the  Concord  philosopher, 
and  mother  of  the  novelist,  Miss  Louisa  M. 
Alcott,  a  woman  foremost  in  the  Anti-Slavery 
reform,  asked  with  other  women  of  Massachu- 
setts, to  "  be  allowed  to  vote  on  the  amendments 
that  may  be  made  in  the  Constitution."     Francis 


^I^OA/AxV  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.  93 

Jackson  and  others  asked  that  the  word  "  male 
may  be  stricken  from  the  Constitution."  The  other 
petitions  were  headed  by  the  names  of  Harriet 
L.  Randall,  T.  Wentworth  Higginson,  Wendell 
Phillips,  Josiah  Henshaw,  Mary  Osgood,  Mary 
E.  Higginson,  J.  G.  Forman,  Betsey  T.  Heywood, 
Abby  H.  Price,  and  Lucretia  Upham.  Harriot 
K.  Hunt  also  petitioned  that  she  might  be  "  al- 
lowed to  vote,  or  be  excused  from  paying  taxes.'* 
All  these  petitions  were  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  the  Qualifications  of  Voters,  of  which  Amasa 
Walker  of  North  Brookfield  was  the  Chairman. 
On  the  petitions  of  Francis  Jackson  and  Abby 
M.  Alcott  the  Committee  reported  leave  to  with- 
draw, giving  as  their  reason  that,  the  "  consent  of 
the  governed  "  was  shown  by  the  small  number 
of  petitioners.  Hearings  before  this  Committee 
were  granted,  and  Lucy  Stone,  Susan  B.  Anthony, 
Theodore  Parker,  Wendell  Phillips,  and  other 
speakers  of  learning  and  ability,  presented  able 
arguments  in  favor  of  giving  women  the  right  to 
vote.  Among  the  many  reasons  urged  by  the 
petitioners  why  their  petitions  should  be  granted, 
were  the  following: 


94  MASSACHUSETTS  IN   THE 

ist.  "That  women  are  human  beings,  and 
therefore  have  human  rights,  one  of  which  is, 
that  of  having  a  voice  in  the  government  under 
which  they  live,  and  in  the  enactment  of  laws  they 
are  bound  to  obey." 

2d.  "That  women  have  interests  and  rights, 
which  are  not,  in  fact,  and  never  will  be,  sufficiently 
guarded  by  governments  in  which  they  are  not 
allowed  any  political  influence." 

3d.  "  That  they  are  taxed,  and  therefore,  since 
taxation  and  the  right  of  representation  are  ad- 
mitted to  be  inseparable,  they  have  a  right  to  be 
represented." 

A  summary  of  the  reasons  given  was  included 
in  the  Committee's  report.  The  Chairman  of 
this  Committee  in  presenting  this  report,  moved 
that  all  debate  on  the  subject  should  cease  in 
thirty  minutes,  and  on  motion  of  Benjamin  F. 
Butler  of  Lowell,  the  whole  report,  excepting  the 
last  clause,  was  stricken  out.  There  was  then  left 
of  the  whole  document,  (including  more  than  two 
closely-printed  pages  of  reasoning)  only  this, — "it 
is  inexpedient  for  this   Convention  to  take  any 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.         95 

action  in  relation  thereto."  Tlie  vote  was  then 
taken,  and  woman's  right  to  the  ballot  in  the  pro- 
posed amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  Massa- 
chusetts, was  voted  down,  108  to  44.  A  quick 
disposal  of  a  mighty  subject ! 

Edward  L.  Keyes  of  Abington,  and  William  B. 
Greene  of  North  Brookfield  were  the  Woman's 
Rights  champions  in  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  1853.  Lucy  Stone's  axiom,  that  "  womeit 
are  classed  politically  with  criminals  and  felons," 
finds  confirmation  in  one  of  the  decisions  of  the 
Committee  on  the  Qualifications  of  Voters,  since 
it  reported  in  one  and  the  same  bill,  mexpedient 
to  legislate  on  excluding  "from  the  right  of  suf- 
frage, and  the  right  to  hold  any  ofjftce  of  profit 
or  trust,  all  persons  who  may  be  convicted  of 
bribery,  larceny  or  other  infamous  crime ;"  .  .  , 
also^  on  the  petition  of  Harriot  K.  Hunt  that  she 
may  be  "excused  from  paying  taxes,  or  be 
allowed  to  vote." 

It  is  a  significant  fact,  that,  when  the  amend- 
ments proposed  by  the  Constitutional  Convention 
of  1853  came  before  the  voters  of  the  State,  for 
their  sanction  by  ballot,  they  were  all  defeated. 


96  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

The  labor  of  that  august  body  thus  went  for 
nothing,  and  the  money  it  cost  the  State,  money 
furnished  partly  by  the  taxes  of  the  unrepresented 
portion  of  its  citizens,  was  all  thrown  away !  A 
prophet  might  have  said,  that  it  was  not  yet  time 
for  Massachusetts  to  change,  or  amend  its  Con- 
stitution, particularly  that  part  which  relates  to 
the  "Qualifications  of  Voters."  The  year  1880 
was  the  centennial  year  of  the  Constitution,  and 
would  have  been  a  fitting  time  to  renew  the 
attempt  to  amend  this  document,  which,  though 
very  nearly  right  in  principle,  fails  in  the  applica- 
tion of  those  principles  to  the  political  rights  of 
the  majority  of  the  people  whom  it  governs. 

Legislative  agitation  on  the  Woman's  Rights 
question,  began  in  1849,  when  William  Lloyd 
Garrison  presented  the  first  petition  on  the  sub- 
ject to  the  State  Legislature.*  Before  this  time, 
that  body  had  not  recognized  the  word  "  woman  " 


♦Following  Mr.  Garrison's  petition  was  one  from  Jona- 
than Drake  and  others,  "  for  a  peaceable  secession  of  Mas- 
sachusetts from  the  Union."  Both  these  petitions  were 
probably  considered  by  the  Legislature  to  which  they  were 
addressed  as  of  equally  incendiary  character,  since  they 
both  had  "leave  to  withdraw  "  in  company. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOP^EMENT.         97 

enough  to  admit  it  into  the  record  of  its  proceed- 
ings. In  looking  over  the  Index  of  the  Journal 
of  the  House,  for  many  years  previous  to  185 1, 
there  is  found  no  mention  of  legislation  for  wo- 
man, either  as  maid,  wife,  or  widow.  In  185 1,  an 
Order  was  introduced  asking  "whether  any 
legislation  was  necessary  concerning  the  wills  of 
married  women  ? "  In  1853  a  bill  was  enacted 
"  to  exempt  certain  property  of  widows  and  un- 
married women  from  taxation." 

Not  until  eight  years  after  (in  1861)  does  the 
word." woman"  appear  in  the  Index  of  the  Jour- 
nal of  the  House.  That  year  the  Legislature 
debated  a  bill  to  allow  a  widow,  "  if  she  have 
woodland  as  a  part  of  her  dower,  the  privilege 
of  cutting  wood  enough  for  one  fire."  This  bill 
was  defeated,  and  the  widow,  by  law,  was  not 
allowed  to  keep  herself  warm  with  fuel  from  her 
own  wood-lot.  In  1863  the  word  "wife"  first 
appears  in  the  House  records,  and  legislation 
began  concerning  her  legal  status.  A  bill  asking 
that  "  a  wife  may  be  allowed  to  be  a  witness  and 
proceed  against  her  husband  for  desertion,"  was 
reported  inexpedient,  and  a  bill  was  passed  to 
7 


98  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

■prevent  women  from  forming  co-partnerships  in 
business. 

In  1865,  our  lamented  Gov.  Andrew,  seeing  the 
magnitude  of  the  approaching  woman  question, 
tried  his  hand  at  disposing  of  one  phase  of  the 
subject.  In  his  annual  message  to  the  Legisla- 
ture, he  made  a  memorable  suggestion  with 
regard  to  a  portion  of  the  citizens  of  Massachu- 
setts. Said  he :  "  I  know  of  no  more  useful 
object  to  which  the  Commonwealth  can  lend  its 
aid,  than  that  of  a  movement,  adopted  in  a  prac- 
tical way  to  open  the  door  of  emigration  to  young 
women,  who  are  wanted  for  teachers,  and  for 
every  other  appropriate,  as  well  as  domestic,  em-^ 
ployment  in  the  remote  West,  but  who  are  leading 
anxious  and  aimless  lives  in  New  England."  By 
the  "  anxious  and  aimless  "  it  was  supposed  the 
Governor  meant  the  widowed,  single,  or  other- 
wise unrepresented  portion  of  the  citizens  of  the 
State. 

No  action  was  taken  by  the  Legislature  upon 
this  portion  of  the  Governor's  message.  But  a 
member  of  the  Senate  actually  made  the  follow- 
ing proposition  before  that  body,  namely, — "That 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE   MO  FEME  XT.  99 

the  'anxious  and  aimless  women'  of  the  State 
should  assemble  on  the  Common  on  a  certain  day 
of  the  year,  (to  be  hereafter  named)  and  that 
Western  men  who  wanted  wives,  should  be  invited 
to  come  here  and  select  them."  Legislators  who 
make  such  propositions,  do  not  foresee  that  the 
time  may  come,  when,  perhaps  those  nearest  and 
dearest  to  them,  may  be  classed  among  the  super- 
fluous, or  "  anxious  and  aimless  "  women  ! 

In  1865  the  expediency  of  allowing  married 
women  to  testify  in  suits  at  law  where  their 
husbands  are  parties,  was  considered,  and  an 
order  permitting  them  to  hold  trust  estates  was 
^ejected.  It  will  be  seen  that  though  all  this 
legislation  was  adverse  to  woman's  interest,  the 
question  had  obtained  an  entrance  into  legisla- 
tive halls,  and  had  forced  itself  upon  the  attention 
of  the  members  of  both  House  and  Senate. 

In  1866  a  joint  committee  of  both  Houses  was 
appointed,  to  consider  "  if  any  additional  legisla- 
tion can  be  adopted,  whereby  the  means  of 
obtaining  a  livelihood  by  the  women  of  this  Com- 
monwealth may  be  increased,  and  a  more  equal 
and  just  compensation  be  allowed  for  labor." 


lOO  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

In  1867  Francis  W.  Bird  presented  the  petition 
of  Mehitable  Haskell  of  Gloucester  for  "  an  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  extending  suffrage  to 
women."  In  1868  Mr.  King  of  Boston  presented 
the  same  petition,  and  it  was  at  this  time,  and  in 
answer  to  this  petition,  that  the  subject  first  en- 
tered into  the  regular  Orders  of  the  Day,  and 
became  a  part  of  the  official  business  of  the 
House  of  Representatives.*  When  this  position 
is  once  secured  for  a  question,  (whether  petitions 
are  presented  on  the  subject  or  not)  it  must 
appear  in  some  form,  in  the  annual  record  of  leg- 
islative business,  until  it  is  decided  one  way  or 
the  other.  •. 

Attempts  to  legislate  on  the  property  question 
concerning  married  women  were  continued  in 
1868  in  bills  "to  further  protect  the  property  of 
married  women,"  "to  allow  married  women  to 
contract  for  necessaries,"  and  if  "  divorced  from 
bed  and  board,  to  allow  them  to  dispose  of  their 
own  property."     These  bills  were  all  defeated. 

♦This  was  brought  about  through  the  special  efforts  of 
Hon.  Francis  W.  Bird,  a  member,  and  W.  S.  Robinson, 
("  Warrington,")  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
1868. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MCVEMENT.        lOI 

Annual  legislative  hearings  on  Woman  Suffrage 
began  in  1869.  These  were  first  secured  through 
the  efforts  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  New 
England  Woman  Suffrage  Association.  Eight 
thousand  women  had  petitioned  the  Legislature 
that  suffrage  might  be  allowed  them  on  the 
same  terms  as  men,  and  in  answer,  two  hearings 
were  held  in  the  Green  Room  at  the  State  House. 
The  Committee  were  addressed  by  Wendell  Phil- 
lips, Julia  Ward  Howe,  Lucy  Stone,  Rev.  James 
Freeman  Clarke,  Hon.  George  F.  Hoar,  and 
others."* 

A  remonstrance  was  also  sent  into  the  Legisla- 
ture, from  two  hundred  women  of  Lancaster, 
Massachusetts.  The  following  were  among  the 
reasons  given  why  women  should  not  be  allowed 
to  vote  :  "  The  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise 
would  diminish  the  purity,  the  dignity  and  the 
moral  influence  of  woman,  and  bring  into  the 
family  circle  a  dangerous  element  of  discord.'* 
It  did  not  occur  to  these  women  that  by  thus 
remonstrating  they  were  doing  just  what  they 
were  protesting  against. 

*  For  early  legislative  hearings,  see  Appendix  J. 


102  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

What  is  a  vote  ?  An  expression  of  opinion,  or 
a  desire  as  to  governmental  affairs,  in  the  shape 
of  a  ballot.  The  "  aspiring  blood  of  Lancaster," 
should  have  mounted  higher  than  this,  since,  if  it 
really  was  the  opinion  of  these  remonstrants 
that  woman  cannot  vote  without  becoming  defiled, 
they  should  have  kept  themselves  out  of  the 
Legislature,  should  have  kept  their  hands  from 
petitioning,  and  their  thoughts  from  agitation  on 
either  side  of  the  subject.  Just  such  illogical 
reasoning  on  the  Woman  Suffrage  question,  is 
often  brought  forward,  and  passes  for  the  pro- 
foundest  wisdom  and  discreetest  delicacy ! 

In  1870  a  joint  special  Committee  on  Woman 
Suffrage  was  formed,  and  since  that  time  there 
have  been  one  or  more  annual  hearings  on  the 
question,  before  the  gentlemen  composing  that 
body.  These  gentlemen  usually  are  good  types 
of  the  enlightenment  and  ability  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Legislature,  and  they  have  patiently  and 
respectfully  listened  to  the  arguments  of  the 
earnest  men  and  women  who  have  come  before 
them  asking  for  changes  in  the  laws,  which  shall 
secure  to' woman  equality  and  the  rights  of  citizen- 


WOMAN-  SUFFRAGE  MOVE  ATE  NT.       103 

ship.  To  what  extent  legislative  sentiment  has 
been  created  is  shown  in  the  improvement  in  the 
laws,  with  regard  to  the  legal  status  of  woman. 

William  Claflin  was  the  first  governor  of  Mas- 
sachusetts to  present  officially  to  the  voters  of 
the  Commonwealth  the  subject  of  woman's  rights 
as  a  citizen.  In  his  address  to  the  Legislature  of 
187 1,  he  strongly  recommended  a  change  in  the 
laws  regarding  suffrage  and  the  property  rights  of 
woman.  His  attitude  towards  this  reform  made 
an  era  in  the  history  of  the  executive  department 
of  the  State.  Legislation  then  began  in  earnest, 
and  the  subject  was  forever  lifted  out  of  the 
limbo  of  legislative  contempt."* 

Since  187 1  nearly  every  governor  of  the  State 
has,  in  his  annual  message,  recommended  the 
subject  to  respectful  consideration.  In  1879  Gov- 
ernor Thomas  Talbot  proposed  a  constitutional 
amendment  which  should  secure  the  ballot  to 
women  on  the  same  terms  as  men.  In  response 
to  this  portion  of  the  Governor's  message,  and  to 

*  Two  years  before,  (1869)  a  lady,  sitting  as  visitor  in  the 
gallery  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  heard  the  whole 
subject  of  woman's  rights  referred  to  the  (bogus)  Com- 
mittee on  Graveyards  I 


104  MASSACHUSETTS  IN   THE 

the  98  petitions  presented  on  the  subject,  a  gen- 
eral Suffrage  Bill  passed  the  Senate  by  a  two- 
thirds  majority,  and  an  Act  to  "give  women  the 
right  to  vote  for  members  of  School  Committees," 
passed  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  and 
became  a  law  of  the  State.* 

In  finishing  the  record  of  official  action  on  the 
part  of  the  governors  of  the  State  up  to  the 
present  time,  it  will  be  well  to  record  that  John 
D.  Long,  in  his  inaugural  address  before  the  Leg- 
islature of  188 1,  expressed  his  opinion  in  favor 
of  Woman  Suffrage  perhaps  more  decidedly  than 
any  who  had  preceded  him  in  that  high  official 
position.  What  he  said  is  worthy  to  be  quoted 
in  full : 

"  I  believe  that  the  State  is  made  more  secure 
in  proportion  as  every  member  of  it  of  mature 
age  and  sound  mind  has  a  voice  in  its  adminis- 
tration, and  that  no  one  class  anywhere  can  be 

♦This  law  was  run  through  the  legislative  wringer  in 
March,  1881,  and  a  part  of  its  absurdity  was  squeezed  out 
of  it.  As  amended,  it  may  now  pass  for  a  very  fair  law — 
as  a  School  Committee  Suffrage  Law.  But  it  is  still  noth- 
ing but  a  crumb  of  comfort  from  the  loaf  for  which  the 
believers  in  Equal  Rights  have  so  long  hungered. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE   MOVE  ME  XT.        105 

safely  intrusted  with  the  irresponsible  keeping 
of  the  rights  of  any  other.  The  restrictions  on 
suffrage  and  upon  the  right  of  each  citizen  to 
cast  one  vote  and  have  it  counted,  should,  there- 
fore, be  as  light,  and  the  safeguards  of  that  right 
as  strong,  as  possible.  It  is  for  this  reason,  as 
well  as  because  suffrage  is  a  right  and  not  a 
grace,  that,  in  my  judgment,  women,  paying  taxes 
as  they  do,  and  with  their  personal  interests  and 
property  subject  to  legislation,  should  secure  by 
an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  the  right  to 
vote,  and  thereby  have  a  voice  in  the  imposition 
of  taxes  upon  their  property,  and  in  the  making 
of  laws  that  affect  their  lives,  liberty  and  hap- 
piness." 

The  law  allowing  women  to  vote  for  School 
Committee  is  one  of  the  last  results  of  the  leg- 
islative agitations  of  the  Suffragists,  though  it  is 
true  that  the  petition,  the  answer  to  which  was 
the  passage  of  this  act,  did  not  emanate  from 
them.*     In  view  of  the  numerous  petitions  with 

*The  petition  for  School  Suffrage  was  the  outcome  of  a 
conference  on  the  subject,  held  in  the  parlors  of  the  New 
England  Women's  Club,  and  was  perhaps  intended  to  serve 


Io6  MASSACHUSETTS  IN   THE 

which  the  Massachusetts  Suffragists  have  flooded 
the  Legislature  during  the  last  30  years,  it  is  a 
singular  fact,  that  with  this  one  they  had  nothing 
directly  to  do,  though  it  is  none  the  less  certain 
that  without  their  continued  agitation,  the  passage 
of  the  act  at  this  time  would  not  have  been 
possible. 

But  the  petitions  of  the  Suffragists  had  always 
been  for  general  and  unrestricted  suffrage,  as  Mr. 
Garrison  would  say  for  '■'"Immediate  and  uncondi- 
tional emancipation,^'  and  they  had  always  opposed 
any  scheme  for  securing  the  ballot  on  a  class  or  a 
restricted  basis.  They  had  never  been  led  astray 
by  any  such  semblance  of  reform,  holding  that 
the  true  ground  of  principle  is,  equality  of  rights 
with  man,  and  that  humanity  is  a  unit :  one  glory 
and  one  shame. 

The  practical  result  so  far  of  voting  for  School 
Committee  has  justified  this  position  held  by 
the  Suffragists  of  Massachusetts.     For,  as  shown 

as  a  means  of  re-instating  Abby  W.  May  and  other  women 
who  had  been  defeated  as  candidates  for  re-election  on  the 
Boston  School  Board.  The  names  of  Isa  E.  Gray,  Mrs.  C. 
B.  Richmond,  Elizabeth  P.  Peabody,  and  John  M.  Forbes 
led  the  lists  of  petitioners. 


WOMAiV  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.        107 

by  the  recent  elections,  the  women  of  the  State 
have  not  availed  themselves  to  any  extent  of  their 
new  right  to  vote,  and  therefore,  the  measure  has 
not  forwarded  the  cause  of  general  suffrage.  In 
point  of  fact  the  law  allowing  women  to  vote 
for  School  Committee  *  is  a  class  suffrage  law, 
because  under  its  provisions  (according  to  the 
general  interpretation)  the  rich,  or  property  tax- 
paying  woman  can  vote  without  paying  an  addi- 
tional poll-tax;  but  the  poor,  or  non-property 
holding  woman,  must  pay  a  poll-tax  of  two  dol- 
lars, or  a  little  less  perhaps,  if  the  law  is  inter- 
preted favorably  in  her  case. 

The  poor  women  voters  in  the  State  have  been 
quick  to  see  the  injustice  of  being  required  to 
pay  for  this  fiction  of  a  right,  (which  the  rich  wo- 
men get  for  nothing)  the  same  amount  of  money 
which  men  pay  for  every  right  the  government 
grants.  To  such  women,  except  in  some  local 
emergency,  the  privilege  of  merely  voting  for 
school  committee  is  not  worth  the  money  it  costs. 
"Does  it  pay?"  is  a  question  the  female  members 
of  the  family  can  answer,  quite   as  well  as  the 

*  For  this  law  see  Appendix  EL 


Io8  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

male  members.  If  the  law  were  really  a  "  School 
Suffrage  Law "  and  included  the  question  of 
school  appropriations,  school  supervisors,  or 
management,  the  building  of  enormous  and 
costly  school  houses,  or  even  concerning  the 
books  their  children  were  to  use,  the  result 
might  be  different,  and  the  women  might  become 
enough  interested  to  pay  the  hard  earned  two 
dollar  poll-tax  for  the  new  privilege.  But  for 
School  Committee,  alone,  "  No  I  thank  you  !  " 

In  fact  the  School  Committee  question  is  not  a 
vital  one  with  either  male  or  female  v^oters,  and  it 
is  impossible  to  get  up  any  enthusiasm  on  the 
subject.  As  a  test  question,  upon  which  to  try 
the  desire  of  the  women  of  the  State  to  become 
voters,  it  is  a  palpable  sham.  As  a  sop  to  those 
who  do  not  believe  in  "taxation  without  repre- 
sentation "  it  is  a  miserable  subterfuge.  Our 
revolutionary  fathers  would  not  have  fought,  bled 
and  died  for  such  a  figment  of  a  right  as  this ; 
and  their  daughters,  or  granddaughters,  inherit 
the  same  spirit,  and  if  they  vote  at  all,  want 
something  worth  voting  for. 

The  tax-paying  women  seem  to  care  no  more 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       109 

for  the  new  privilege  than  those  who  are  required 
to  pay  for  it,  and  even  those  women  who  do  not 
beheve  in  "Woman  Suffrage"  but  who  do  believe 
in  "  School  Suffrage "  have  not  to  any  extent 
been  lured  from  their  homes  to  vote  upon  this 
so  called  important  question. 

The  result  is,  that  the  voting  has  been  largely 
done  by  those  women  who  have  long  been  Suffra- 
gists, and  who  have  gone  to  the  polls  on  election 
day,  from  pure  principle,  and  a  sense  of  duty, 
rather  than  from  any  desire  to  vote  upon  such  an 
insignificant  matter.  The  number  of  women  who 
have  voted  in  the  State,  is  not  so  much  a  fair 
representation  of  those  who  desire  to  vote,  as  it 
is  a  fair  representation  of  the  Woman  Suffragists 
who  have  voted.* 

By  a  careful  examination  of  the  law  allowing 
women  to  vote  for  School  Committees,  it  will  be 
seen  that  it  is  very  elastic  and  capable  of  many 
readings,  or  interpretations.     Indeed,  it  reminds 

*At  the  first  annual  election  for  School  Committee  in 
cities  and  towns  in  1879-80,  about  5,000  women  became 
registered  voters.  Harriette  R.  Shattuck  (the  daughter 
of  "Warrington")  was  the  first  woman  in  Massachusetts 
to  express  publicly  her  desire  to  vote  under  the  new  law. 


no  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

one  of  the  old  school  exercise  in  transposing 
the  famous  line  in  Gray's  Elegy : 

"The  ploughman  homeward  plods  his  weary  way," 

which  has  been  found  to  be  capable  of  over 
twenty  different  transpositions.  The  collectors 
and  registrars  in  towns  and  cities  have  taken 
advantage  of  this  obscurity  of  expression,  and 
interpreted  the  law  according  to  their  individual 
opinion  on  the  Woman  Suffrage  question  itself. 
In  places  where  these  officials  have  been  in  sym- 
pathy, a  broad  construction  has  been  put  upon 
the  provisions  of  the  law,  the  poll-tax  payers 
have  been  allowed  to  vote,  upon  the  payment  of 
one  dollar  (under  the  divided  tax  law  of  1879), 
and  the  women  voters  generally  have  been  given 
all  necessary  information,  and  treated  courteously 
both  by  the  assessors  and  registrars  and  at  the 
polls. 

In  places  where  leading  officials  were  opposed 
to  women's  voting,  the  case  has  been  far  different. 
Without  regarding  the  clause  in  the  law  which 
says  that  a  woman  may  vote  upon  paying  either 
State   or   County   poll-tax,    such    officials    have 


IVOMA.V  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.        HI 

threatened  the  women  with  arrest,  when  they 
refused  to  pay  both  State  ^;?^  County  poll-tax.  In 
some  towns  the  women  have  been  snubbed  and 
treated  with  great  indignity,  as  if  they  were  doing 
an  unlawful  or  a  disgraceful  thing. 

In  one  town  the  w^omen  voters  were  actually 
required  to  pay  a  poll-tax  the  second  year,  in 
spite  of  the  clause  in  the  law  which  says  that  a 
female  citizen  who  has  paid  a  State  or  County 
tax  within  two  years  shall  have  the  right  to  vote. 
The  town  assessor  whose  duty  it  was  to  inform 
the  women  voters  on  this  point  of  the  law,  when 
asked  concerning  the  matter,  willfully  withheld  the 
desired  information,  saying  he  "  did  not  know," 
though  he  afterwards  said  that  he  did  know  but 
intended  to  let  the  women  "find  out  for  them- 
selves," or  words  to  that  effect.  This  Assessor 
forgot  that  the  women,  as  legal  voters,  had  a  right 
to  ask  for  this  information,  and  that  by  virtue  of 
his  official  position  he  was  legally  obliged  to 
answer. 

The  law  allowing  women  to  vote  for  School 
Committees  with  all  its  defects  and  contradictions 
is  not  responsible  for  blunders  of  this  sort,  since 


112  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

in  all  its  provisions,  the  most  obtuse  intellect 
cannot  fail  to  find  this  one  interpretation,  namely: 
That  it  is  a  law  of  the  State,  made  in  good  faith 
by  a  majority  of  the  Legislature  of  1879,  and  is 
a  virtual  acknowledgment  of  woman's  right  to  the 
ballot, — that  keystone  of  American  institutions. 
It  is  to  be  regretted,  however,  that  a  better  test 
question  than  that  of  School  Committee  Suffrage, 
could  not  have  been  given  to  the  women  of  the 
State,  so  that  the  issue  of  what  under  the  circum- 
stances cannot  be  called  a  fair  trial  of  their 
desire  to  vote,  might  be  more  nearly  what  the 
friends  of  the  reform  had  desired. 

A  School  Suffrage  Association  was  formed  in 
1880,  and  held  its  first  annual  meeting  in  anniver- 
sary week,  at  Freeman  Place  chapel.  Abby  W. 
May  of  Boston  was  elected  President,  and  Ednah 
D.  Cheney,  Mary  F.  Eastman,  Anna  Garlin  Spen- 
cer, and  other  prominent  women,  not  all  of  them 
Suffragists,  were  put  upon  its  executive  board. 

The  first  petition  to  the  Massachusetts  Legis- 
lature, asking  that  women  might  be  allowed  to 
serve  on  school  boards  was  presented  in  1866 
by  Samuel  E.  Sewall  of  Boston.     The  same  peti- 


WOMAiV  SUFFRA  GE  MO  VEMENT.       1 1 3 

tion  was  again  presented  in  1867.  About  this 
time  Ashfield  and  Monroe,  two  of  the  smallest 
towns  in  the  State,  elected  women  as  members 
of  the  School  Committee.  Worcester  and  Lynn 
soon  followed  the  good  example,  and  in  1874, 
Boston,  for  the  first  time,  chose  three  women  to 
serve  in  this  capacity ."*  There  had  hitherto  been 
no  open  objection  to  this  innovation,  but  the 
School  Committee  of  Boston  not  liking  the  idea 
of  women  co-workers,  declared  them  ineligible 
to  hold  such  office. 

One  of  the  women  elect,  (Miss  Peabody)  applied 
to  the  Supreme  Court  for  its  opinion  upon  the 
matter,  but  the  judges  refused  to  answer,  and 
dismissed  the  petition  on  the  ground  that  the 
School  Committee  itself  had  power  to  decide  the 
question  of  the  qualification  of  members  of  the 
board.  The  subject  was  brought  before  the  Leg- 
islature of  the  same  year,  and  that  body,  almost 
unanimously,  passed  "  an  Act  to  declare  women 
eligible  to  serve  as   members   of   School   Com- 

*  Their  names  were  Lucretia  P.  Hale,  Abby  W.  May,  and 
Lucia  M.  Peabody. 

8 


114  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

mittees."      Thus     the    women     members    were 
reinstated.* 

This  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  Supreme  Judicial 
Court  of  Massachusetts  to  answer  a  question 
relating  to  woman's  rights  under  the  law,  was 
received  with  .a  knowing  smile  by  those  who 
remembered  the  three  decisions  relating  to  women 
which  had  been  given  by  that  august  body.  The 
first  of  these  decisions  was  on  the  case  of  Sarah  E. 
Wall  of  Worcester.  The  second  was  concerning 
a  clause  in  the  will  of  Francis  Jackson  of  Boston, 
who  left  $5,000  and  other  property  to  the  woman's 
rights  cause,  the  money  to  be  used  for  lec- 
tures and  documents,  and  to  secure  the  passage 
of  laws  granting  women,  whether  married  or  un- 
married, the  right  to  vote,  hold  office,  manage 
property,  and  enjoy  civil   rights.     The  will  was 

*  This  Act,  so  brief  and  so  expressive,  is  worthy  to  be 
remembered.  It  simply  reads :  "  Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  as 
follaws : 

Sect.  I.  No  person  shall  be  deemed  ineligible  to  serve 
upon  a  School  Committee  by  reason  of  sex. 

Sect.  2.  This  Act  shall  take  effect  upon  its  passage. 
{^Approved  June  30,  1874.)  " 

By  force  of  habit,  the  Legislature  said  not  a  word  in  the 
law  about  wornen. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       115 

contested  by  some  of  Mr.  Jackson's  heirs ;  the 
Supreme  Judicial  Court  was  appealed  to,  and  it 
decided  (in  1867)  that  an^^thing  concerning 
woman's  rights  did  not  constitute  a  legal  charity, 
and  therefore  was  inoperative  and  void. 

Its  third  adverse  decision*  was  given  in  187 1. 
In  that  year,  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe  and  Miss  Mary 
E.  Stevens  were  appointed  be  Governor  Claflin 
as  Justices  of  the  Peace.  Some  member  of  the 
Governor's  Council  having  doubted  whether 
women  could  legally  hold  the  office,  the  opinion 
of  the  Supreme  Court  was  asked  and  it  decided 
substantially  that  because  women  were  women,  or 
because  women  were  not  men^  they  could  not  be 
Justices  of  the  Peace  ;  and  the  appointment  of 
the  women  Justices  of  the  Peace  was  not  con- 
firmed. Samuel  E.  Sewall  and  other  gentlemen 
of  legal  minds  dissented  from  this  opinion,  and  the 
ridicule  thrown  upon  this  "  Court  of  high  appeal " 
warned  the  Judges  that  it  would  not  do  to  be 
caught  napping  again.  Hence,  as  before  stated, 
when  appealed  to  for  the  third  time  to  settle  a 
question  relating  to  the  legal  status  of  the  women 

*  For  these  decisions,  see  Appendix  L. 


Ii6  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

citizens  of  the  State,  the  Bench  refused  to  an- 
swer. 

The  result  of  legislative  agitation  on  the  Wo- 
man's Rights  question,  is  faithfully  told  in  the 
admirable  pamphlets  of  Samuel  E.  Sevvall*  and 
William  I.  Bowditch.f  Thirty  years  ago,  when 
the  Woman's  RiMits  Movement  beo^an,  the  status 
of  a  married  woman  was  little  better  than  that  of 
a  domestic  servant.  By  the  English  common 
law,  her  husband  was  her  lord  and  master.  He 
had  the  sole  custody  of  her  person,  and  of  her 
minor  children.  He  could  ''  punish  her  with  a 
stick  no  bigger  than  his  thumb,"  and  she  could 
not  complain  against  him. 

The  common  law  of  this  state  held  man  and 

wife  to  be  one  person,  but  that  person  was  the 

husband.     He  could  by  will  deprive  her  of  every 

part  of  his  property,  and  also  of  what  had  been 

her  own  before  marriage.     He  was  the  owner  of 

all  her  real  estate  and  of  her  earnings.     The  wife 

could  make  no  contract  and  no  will,  nor  without 

her  husband's  consent  dispose  of  the  legal  inter- 

*  "  Legal  Condition  of  Women  in  Massachusetts." 
t  "  Taxation   of  Women  in   Massachusetts,"  and  "  Wo- 
man Suffrage  a  Right,  not  a  Privilege." 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       1 17 

est  of  her  real  estate.  He  had  the  income  of  her 
real  estate  till  she  died,  and  if  they  ever  had  a 
living  child  his  ownership  of  the  real  estate  con- 
tinued till  his  death.  He  could  forbid  her  to  buy 
a  loaf  of  bread  or  a  pound  of  sugar,  or  contract 
for  a  load  of  wood  to  keep  the  family  warm.  She 
did  not  own  a  rag  of  her  own  clothing.  She  had 
no  personal  rights,  and  could  hardly  call  her  soul 
her  own. 

Her  husband  could  steal  her  children,  rob  her 
of  her  clothing  and  her  earnings,  neglect  to  sup- 
port the  family ;  and  she  had  no  legal  redress.  If 
a  wife  earned  money  by  her  labor,  the  husband 
could  claim  the  pay  as  his  share  of  the  proceed- 
ing. A  woman,  either  married  or  unmarried, 
could  not  hold  property,  except  through  trustees. 
She  could  hold  no  office  of  trust  or  power.  She 
was  not  a  person.  She  was  not  recognized  as  a 
citizen.  She  was  not  a  factor  in  the  human 
family.  She  was  not  a  unit ;  but  a  zero,  a  nothing, 
in  the  sum  of  civilization. 

To-day,  a  married  woman  can  hold  her  own 
property,  if  it  is  held  or  bought  in  her  own  name, 
and  can  make  a  will  disposing  of  it.     A  man  is 


II 8  MASSACHUSETTS  IiV   THE 

no  longer  the  only  heir  of  his  wife's  property.  A 
married  woman  can  now  make  contracts,  enter 
into  co-partnerships,  carry  on  business,  invest  her 
own  earnings  for  her  own  use  and  behoof, — and 
she  is  also  responsible  for  her  own  debts.  She 
can  be  executrix,  administratrix,  guardian  or  trus- 
tee. She  can  testify  in  the  courts  for  or  against 
her  husband. 

If  a  husband  sees  fit  to  whip  his  wife  with  a 
"stick  no  bigger  than  his  thumb"  she  can  have 
him  bound  over  to  keep  the  peace  for  two  years. 
If  she  lives  apart  from  him  she  can  attach  his 
property  for  the  support  of  herself  and  her  chil- 
dren. She  can  release,  transfer,  or  convey,  any 
interest  she  may  have  in  real  estate,  subject  only 
to  the  life  interest  which  the  husband  may  have 
at  her  death.  A  married  woman  is  now  the 
owner  of  her  own  clothing  to  the  value  of  $2,000, 
although  the  act  granting  this  (passed  in  1879) 
calls  such  apparel  the  "gifts  of  her  husband," 
not  recognizing  the  fact  that  most  married 
women  earn  or  help  to  earn  their  own  clothes. 

There  is  a  certain  clause  sometimes  found  in 
old  wills,  to   the   effect  that  if  a  widow  sees  fit 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       119 

to  marry  again,  she  shall  forfeit  all  right  to  her 
husband's  property.  The  most  conservative  judge 
in  the  Commonwealth  wbuld  now  rule  that  a 
widow  cannot  be  kept  from  her  thirds,  or  fair  share 
of  the  property,  by  any  such  unjust  restriction. 
In  a  husband's  eyes  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago,  a  woman's  mission  was  accomplished  after 
she  had  been  his  wife  and  borne  his  children. 
What  more  could  be  desired  by  her,  he  argued, 
but  a  corner  somewhere  in  which,  respectably 
dressed  as  his  relict  (or  leavings),  she  could  sit 
down  (in  the  Miss  Haversham  style)  and  mourn 
for  him,  for  the  rest  of  her  life.* 

The  law  no  longer  sanctions  the  making  of 
such  a  will,  but  provides  that  the  widow  shall 
have  a  fair  share  of  all  personal  property.  A 
husband  can  no  longer  make  a  will  leaving  his 
wife  a  mere  "  incumbrance  "  to  his  estate,  to  be 
toted  round,  an  unwelcome  guest,  from  house  to 

*  In  an  old  will  (made  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago)  a 
husband  of  large  means  bequeathed  to  his  "  dearly  beloved 
wife"  $50  and  a  new  suit  of  clothes,  with  the  injunction 
that  she  should  return  to  her  original,  or  family  home. 
And  with  this  small  sum,  as  her  share  of  his  property,  he 
returned  her  to  her  parents. 


120  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

house  of  relatives  or  children.  If  a  widow  per- 
mits herself  to-day  to  be  defrauded  of  her  legal 
rights,  in  the  division  of  property,  it  is  her  own 
fault,  and  because  she  does  not  study  and  under- 
stand for  herself  the  General  Statutes  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  the -laws  concerning  the  rights  of 
married  women.* 

The  result  of  thirty  years  of  property  legisla- 
tion for  women  is  well  stated  by  Mr.  Sewall  in 
his  admirable  pamphlet,  in  which  he  says,  "the 
last  thirty  years  have  done  more  to  improve  the 
law  for  married  women,  than  the  four  hundred 
preceding."  The  Legislature  has,  during  this 
time,  enacted  laws  allowing  women  to  vote  in 
Parishes  and  Religious  Societies ;  declaring  that 
women  must  become  members  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  three  State  Primary  and  Reform 
Schools,  of  the  State  Workhouse,  of  the  State 
Almshouse  at  Tewksbury,  and  of  the  Board  of 
Prison  Commissioners ;  also  that  certain  officers 
and  managers  of  the  Reformatory  Prison  for 
Women  at  Sherborn,  "shall  be  women."  With- 
out legislation,   women   now  are   School    Super- 

*  See  Bishop  on  the  Law  of  Married  Women. 


WOMAN  SUFFRA  GE  MO  VEMENT,       1 2 1 

visors,  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  Trustees  of  Public 
Libraries  and  members  of  the  State  Board  of 
Education  and  of  the  State  Board  of  Health, 
Lunacy  and  Charity. 

The  great  changes  in  the  legal  and  legislative 
condition  of  the  women  of  Massachusetts  are  the 
direct  result  of  the  labors  of  the  Suffragists.  By 
conventions  and  documents  they  have  informed 
the  people  and  enlightened  public  sentiment.  By 
their  continued  agitation  the  question  has  been 
kept  prominently  before  the  voters  of  the  state, 
and  before  their  representatives  in  the  Legisla- 
ture. And  though  so  much  has  been  gained,  the 
Suffragists  are  still  hard  at  work,  nor  will  they  rest 
from  their  labors,  until,  both  legally  and  politically, 
woman's  equality  with  man  before  the  law  is  firmly 
established. 

The  little  actual  gain  in  votes  since  1870,  in 
favor  of  municipal  or  general  suffrage  for  women, 
might  cause  the  careless  observer  to  draw  the 
inference  that  no  great  progress  had  been  made 
in  legislative  sentiment  during  all  these  years.* 

*  In  1870  the  vote  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on 
the  General  Woman  Suffrage  Bill  was  as  follows ;  yeas  68, 


122  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

But  those  who  have  carefully  noted  the  expression 
of  the  House,  year  after  year,  can  see  a  marked 
change  in  its  attitude  towards  this  subject.  It 
is  this :  the  opposition  is  at  last  silenced.  The 
arguments  against  woman's  right  to  the  ballot  are 
all  exhausted,  or  have  been  refuted,  and  the  oppo- 
nents have  been  driven  to  entrench  themselves 
behind  an  unreasoning  "  no." 

On  March  29th,  188 1,  the  Bill  in  favor  of 
Municipal  Su^rage  to  Women  came  before  the 
House  for  final  action,  and  was  ably  supported  by 
Col.  T.  W.  Higginson,  Cambridge,  William  John- 
son, Everett,  G.  A.  Shepard,  Sandisfield,  E.  P. 
Brown,  Boston,  and  James  F.  Almy,  Salem. 
Nearly  every  member  was  in  his  seat,  and  the 
opponents  were  there  in  full  force,  ready  to  vote ; 
but  not  a  voice  was  raised  against  the  Bill,  though 
Mr  Brown  of  Boston  (in  his  speech)  called  on  the 
young  lawyers  and  others  known  to  be  its  ene- 
mies, to  show  their  colors  and  speak  for  their  side 
of  the  question.     It  is  safe  to  predict  that  so  far 

nays  133.  In  1881  the  Bill  giving  Municipal  Suffrage  to 
women  was  defeated  in  the  House  by  a  vote  of  122  nays  to 
76  yeas. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.        123 

as  speech-making  is  concerned,  legislative  opposi- 
tion to  woman  suffrage  is  at  last  silenced. 

It  was  enough  to  make  the  women  who  sat  in 
the  gallery  weep,  to  hear  the  "O's''  and  the 
"Mc's,"  almost  to  a  man,  belch  forth  the  em- 
phatic "  no  ; "  and  to  think  that  these  men  (some 
of  whom  a  few  years  ago  were  walking  over  their 
native  bogs,  with  hardly  the  right  to  live  and 
breathe),  should  vote  away  so  thoughtlessly  the 
rights  of  the  women  of  the  country  in  which  they 
have  found  a  shelter  and  a  home.  Some  of  them 
must  be  men  who  have  done  nothing  to  entitle 
them  to  the  right  of  suffrage.  When  they  came 
to  this  country,  poor,  and  with  no  inheritance  but 
the  "shillalah,"  the  ballot  was  freely  given  to 
them,  as  the  poor  man's  weapon  for  defence. 
Why  cannot  men,  who  have  been  political  serfs 
in  their  own  country,  see  the  incongruity,  the 
wickedness,  of  what  they  do  when  they  cast  their 
vote  against  the  enfranchisement  of  over  one-half 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  State  which  has  made 
free  human  beings  of  them  ? 

If  it  was  a  sad  sight  to  the  women  spectators 
to   hear    their    adopted   countrymen   vote   their 


124  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

rights  away,  it  was  enough  to  make  angels  weep 
to  hear  the  dogged  "  No  "  come  from  the  lips  of 
men  in  whose  veins  runs  a  thin  stream  of  that 
blood  once  famous  in  the  annals  of  personal 
liberty.  Far  better  that  their  revered  names 
should  never  be  heard  of  again,  than  that  they 
should  be  found  with  those  who  vote  against  the 
rights  of  the  people. 

A  certain  newspaper  said,  that  after  the  defeat, 
the  women  who  had  been  sitting  in  the  gallery 
went  smiling  home,  feeling  quite  relieved,  and 
glad  to  know  that  their  Suffrage  Bill  was  not 
carried  :  for,  if  it  had  been,  they  would  have  had 
nothing  more  to  fight  for.  If  any  of  the  women 
"  smiled,"  it  was  with  grim  irony  to  see  the  men 
who  represent  the  "  blue  blood "  of  Massachu- 
setts join  forces  with  the  immigrant  and  the 
foreigner,  to  prevent  the  women  of  their  own 
class  from  enjoying  the  rights  of  citizenship. 
This  thought  was  enough  to  have  made  the 
emblematical  stuffed  codfish  smile,  and  the 
Indian  in  bas  relief  on  the  Massachusetts  coat  of 
arms,  get  down  from  his  honored  place  over  the 
Speaker's  desk,  and  flee  from  his  native  State  to 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       125 

find  a  home  in  a  new  reservation  far  beyond  that 
of  the  persecuted  Poncas. 

The  change  in  legislative  sentiment  on  the 
woman  suffrage  question,  can  best  be  illustrated 
(as  Abraham  Lincoln  would  have  said)  "by  a 
little  story  "  of  a  conjugal  scene. 

Mary  and  John  have  been  married  several 
years.  One  day  Mary  makes  up  her  mind  that 
she  wants  a  new  and  expensive  dress;  and 
since  she  has  never  any  money  of  her  own,  she 
is,  of  course,  obliged  to  ask  her  husband  to  give 
her  the  needful  sum,  and  the  following  conversa- 
tion ensues : 

Mary.  John,  I  want  some  money  to  buy  a 
new  silk  dress. 

yohii.  What  do  you  want  of  another  dress  ? 
You've  got  all  you  need.  You  said  the  other 
day  you  had  more  clothes  than  you  wanted. 

Mary.  Oh!  When  I  said  that,  I  meant  the 
sort  of  clothes  you  sometimes  buy  for  me, —  that 
yellow  -  sprigged  calico,  for  instance,  and  that 
great  staring  shawl  —  not  the  kind  I  pick  out  to 
suit  myself. 

JoJm.      It's   perfect  nonsense  for  you  to  get 


126  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

more  dresses.  You've  got  as  many  again  as 
your  mother  ever  had.    It's  perfectly  ridiculous. 

Mary  persists,  and  continues  to  tease  for  the 
dress,  until  John  finally  throws  down  a  little 
money,  and  leaves  the  house.  When  he  comes 
home  at  night,  feeling  good-natured,  he  says: 
"  Well,  how  does  the  new  dress  you  picked  out 
yourself  suit  you  ?  " 

Mary.  I  did  not  have  half  money  enough  to 
get  what  I  wanted. 

yohn.  Not  money  enough  ?  Why,  I  gave  you 
all  you  asked  for  1 

Mary.  Well,  there  wasn't  half  enough.  No 
woman  could  buy  a  decent  dress  with  such  a 
little- 
Here  John  fires  up,  and  says : 

"  Well,  you  shan't  have  any  more.  I  gave  you 
enough  for  any  reasonable  woman.  You  won't 
know  how  to  use  it  if  I  give  you  any  more,  and 
you  shan't  have  another  cent." 

In  spite  of  this  decision  of  John's,  Mary  does 
not  take  "  no  "  for  an  answer,  and  day  after  day 
renews  the  attack,  until  John,  tired  out  with  her 
importuning,  is  finally  caught  in  a  yielding  mood, 
and,  throwing  his  purse  at  his  wife,  says : 


IVOAfAJV  SUFFRAGE   MOVEMENT.       12/ 

"  There,  do  take  all  the  money  you  want !  " 
The  parallel  is,  that  in  the  beginning  the 
Massachusetts  Legislature  ridiculed  the  idea  of 
woman  suffrage,  then  it  yielded,  and  gave  a  little 
school  committee  suffrage.  Now,  in  1881,  it  is  in 
the  dogged,  or  "you  shan't  have  it"  stage.  By 
and  by,  when  it  has  been  importuned  long 
enough,  it  will  say  to  the  women : 

"  There,  do  take  all  the  suffrage  you  want ! " 


128  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 


CHAPTER  VI. 

RESULTS    OF    THIRTY    YEARS    OF   AGITATION. 

"  The  weapons  of  the  whole  world  must  leave  me  still 
unstained." — Inscribed  on  the  Hero  Roland's  Helmet. 

^  I  ^HE  improvement  in  the  social  or  general 
condition  of  woman  has  been  even  greater 
than  that  recorded  in  the  chapter  on  Legal  and 
Legislative  History.  A  few  brief  statistics  will 
show  the  changes  which  thirty  years  have  wrought. 
Woman  as  Teacher. — Previous  to  1840,  women 
were  employed  only  as  teachers  of  summer 
schools,  to  "  spell  the  men  "  during  the  haying 
season ;  and  this  only  occasionally.  They  held 
no  responsible  position  in  any  public  school  in 
the  State.  To-day  from  seven  to  eight  women  to 
one  man  are  employed  in  all  grades  of  this  pro- 
fession, and  there. are  numerous  instances  where 
women  are  head  teachers  of  departments,  or 
principals  of  high,  normal,  and  grammar  schools. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       129 

Woman  as  Student  a7id  Professor. — Previous 
to  1825,  girls  could  attend  only  the  primary 
schools  of  Boston.  In  that  year,  through  the 
influence  of  Rev.  John  Pierpont,  the  first  high 
school  for  girls  was  opened  in  that  city.  There 
was  a  great  outcry  against  this  innovation  ;  and, 
because  of  the  excitement  in  the  community  on 
the  subject,  and  the  great  number  of  girls  who 
applied  for  admission,  the  scheme  was  abandoned. 

In  the  town  of  Plymouth,  where  the  Pilgrim 
fathers  and  mothers  first  landed,  when  the  ques- 
tion whether  girls  should  receive  any  public 
instruction  first  came  up  in  town  meeting,  there 
was  great  opposition  to  it.  One  gentleman 
objected,  saying :  "  I  am  opposed  to  instructing 
girls.  If  we  teach  them — suppose  I  should  be 
writing,  a  woman  might  come  in  and  look  over 
my  shoulder  and  say,  'that  word  is  spelled 
wrong,'  and  I  should  not  like  that !  I  am  en- 
tirely opposed  to  instructing  girls."  The  town, 
however,  showed  a  more  liberal  spirit,  and  voted 
to  give  the  girls  one  hour's  instruction  daily. 
This  was  in  1793. 

In  1855,  the  Girls'  High  and  Normal  School 
9 


130  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

was  established  in  Boston,  and  without  let  or 
hindrance  has  since  continued  in  successful  ope- 
ration. 

In  1867,  the  Lowell  Institute  and  the  Massa- 
chusetts Institute  of  Technology  (both  of  Bos- 
ton), advertised  classes  free  to  both  sexes  in 
French,  mathematics,  and  in  other  advanced 
studies.  Since  that  time  Chauncy  Hall  School 
and  Boston  University  have  been  opened  to 
women,  with  the  equal  privileges  of  male 
students. 

In  1878,  the  Girls'  Latin  School  in  Boston  was 
founded.  The  establishment  of  this  successful 
institution  was  the  result  of  discussions  on  the 
subject  of  the  education  of  girls,  first  brought 
before  the  public  by  Mrs.  Emily  Talbot  and 
other  ladies  of  Boston.  High  schools  in  almost 
all  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  State  have  long 
been  established,  and  in  them  the  boys  and  girls 
of  this  good  old  Commonwealth  are  co-educated, 
and  learn  to  become  useful  citizens — and  voters. 

Colleges  for  women  have  also  been  founded. 
Vassar,  in  Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  (chartered 
in  i860),  leads  the  list,  and  Wellesley  and  Smith 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       131 

have  long  been  doing  good  university  work. 
Thirty  years  ago,  there  was  probably  no  college 
in  the  country,  except  Oberlin,  to  which  women 
students  were  admitted.  To-day  153  collegiate 
institutions  in  different  parts  of  the  United  States 
invite  their  attendance.*  Even  conservative 
Harvard  begins  to  melt  a  little  under  this  regen^ 
erating  influence,  and  invites  women  students 
through  the  doors  of  its  "annex,"  to  come  and 
enjoy  some  of  the  privileges  found  within  its 
sacred  halls  of  learning.  This  was  a  late  act  of 
grace  from  a  college  whose  inception  was  in  the 

*  Oberlin  was  the  first  college  in  this  country  in  which 
the  co-education  of  the  sexes  was  attempted.  This  institu- 
tion was  founded  as  a  school  in  1832,  but  soon  afterwards 
it  became  an  anti-slavery  college,  and  admitted  colored 
men  and  women  as  students.  Those  who  did  the  most  to 
place  it  on  a  secure  foundation  were  Arthur  Tappan,  Presi- 
dent Finney,  Theodore  D.  Weld,  Henry  B.  Stanton,  and 
Rev.  Charles  Avery.  In  1868,  there  were  twenty-seven 
colleges  in  the  United  States,  of  which  Oberlin  was  the 
noble  pioneer.  In  1 881,  in  the  discussion  of  General  Burn- 
side's  "  Educational  Bill  "  in  Congress,  the  fact  was  brought 
out  that  there  are  now  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  colleges 
in  the  United  States  which  admit  women  to  their  courses 
of  study. 

Among  the  women  students  who  have  done  honor  to 
Oberlin  as  Alma  Mater  may  be  mentioned  the  names  of 
Lucy  Stone,  Antoinette  Brown  Blackwell,  and  Sally  Holly. 


132  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

mind  of  a  woman  longing  for  a  better  oppor- 
tunity than  the  new  colony  could  give  to  edu- 
cate her  afterwards  ungrateful  son.* 

It  might  be  explained  here  that  the  "  Harvard 
Annex,"  or  "  Private  Collegiate  Instruction  for 
Women,"  is  not  an  organic  part  of  the  Univer- 
sity itself.  Under  a  certain  arrangement,  a  lim- 
ited number  of  women  students  are  allowed  a 
few  of  the  privileges  of  the  men  students  of  the 
University.  They  are  also  permitted  to  use 
some  of  the  books  belonging  to  the  College 
library,  and  attend  a  few  of  the  College  lectures. 
No  College  building  is  appropriated  for  this 
purpose,  but  recitation  rooms  are  provided  in 
private  houses.  A  witty  Cambridge  lady  called 
this  mythical  college  the  "  Harvard  Annex ; "  the 
public  adopted  the  name,  and  many  people 
suppose  that  there  is  such  a  hall  or  College 
building.  From  the  first  annual  report  of  the 
"  Private  Collegiate  Instruction  for  Women "  it 
appears  that  in  1879  twenty-seven  women  availed 
themselves  of  the  privilege  of  attending  this  course 
of  instruction. 

*  For  Lucy  Downing  and  Harvard  College,  see  Appen- 
dix M. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE   MOVEMENT.        1^3 

These  students  go  alone  and  unattended  to  the 
lectures  and  to  the  library  of  the  College.  A 
great  change  indeed,  since  the  time  when  women 
first  began  to  attend  the  Lowell  Institute  lec- 
tures !  Then  it  was  thought  almost  disgraceful 
for  women  to  go  to  a  public  meeting  without 
male  protection,  and  they  went  with  veiled  faces, 
as  if  ashamed  to  be  seen  of  men.  It  need  not 
be  written  here  how  large  a  proportion  of  women 
go  to  make  up  the  lecture  and  concert  audiences 
of  Massachusetts  to-day ;  nor  is  it  unusual  that, 
either  from  choice  or  necessity,  many  of  them  go 
without  male  escort,  and  no  one  thinks  the  cus- 
tom strange,  or  worthy  of  remark. 

Miss  Maria  Mitchell  was  the  first  woman  in  the 
country  to  hold  the  position  of  college  professor. 
She  became  Professor  of  Astronomy  and  Mathe- 
matics at  Vassar,  in  1866.  Since  that  time 
women  have  become  members  of  the  faculty  in 
several  of  the  large  colleges  in  the  country. 
Professor  Rachel  Bodley,  of  Philadelphia,  in  a 
recent  address,  stated  that  the  demand  for  women 
professors  in  schools  and  colleges  exceeded  the 
supply;    and  she  urged  upon  the  young  women 


134  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

students  of  special  sciences,  to  fit  themselves  for 
this  position  and  for  work  in  the  laboratory. 

Women  as  Physiciaiis. — In  the  early  days  of 
the  Commonwealth,  women  practiced  midwifery, 
and  were  very  successful.  Anne  Hutchinson, 
Mrs.  Fuller  and  Sarah  Alcock  were  the  first 
women  physicians  in  the  State.  Mrs.  Janet  Alex- 
ander, a  Scotchwoman,  wa5  a  well  trained  mid- 
wife. She  lived  in  Boston  and  was  always  recog- 
nized as  a  good  practitioner  in  her  line  by  the 
leading  doctors  in  that  city. 

Dr.  John  C.  Warren,  of  Boston,  invited  this 
lady  to  come  to  this  country.  His  biography,  re- 
cently published,  contains  a  short  record  of  the 
matter  in  which  he  says :  "  We  determined 
to  recommend  Mrs.  Alexander.  She  was  a 
Scotchwoman,  regularly  educated,  and  having  Dr. 
Hamilton's  diploma."  Quite  a  storm  was  raised 
among  the  younger  men  physicians  of  Boston, 
by  this  attempted  innovation,  because  they 
thought  Dr.  Warren  was  trying  to  deprive  them 
of  all  profitable  practice.  But  Mrs.  Alexander, 
supported  by  Dr.  Warren,  and  perhaps  other  phy- 
sicians, continued  successful  practice,  and  edu- 
cated her  daughter  in  the  same  profession. 


WOMAiV  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.        135 

Nancy  Clarke  Binney  was  the  first  regular  wo- 
man physician  in  Massachusetts.* 

Dr.  Harriot  K.  Hunt  practised  in  Boston  as 
early  as  1835.  She  sought  admission  to  the  Har- 
vard Medical  School,  and  was  many  times  refused. 
She  was  not  what  is  called  a  "regular  physi- 
cian." In  her  day  there  existed  no  schools  or 
colleges  for  the  medical  education  of  women,  but 
she  studied  by  herself,  and  acquired  some  knowl- 
edge of  diseases  peculiar  to  women.  Her  success 
was  so  great  in  her  line  of  practice  that  she  proved 
the  need  existing  for  physicians  of  her  own  sex. 

Dr.  Hunt's  tussle  with  the  medical  faculty  will 
long  be  remembered.  She  was  the  first  woman 
in  the  State  who  dared  assert  her  right  to  recog- 
nition in  this  profession.  For  this,  and  for  her 
persistent  efforts  to  secure  for  them  a  higher 
education,  she  deserves  the  gratitude  of  every 
woman  who  has  since  followed  her  footsteps  into 
a  profession  over  which  the  men  had  long  held 
undisputed  control. 

*Dr.  Elizabeth  Blackwell  was  the  first  regular  woman 
physician  in  America.  She  entered  the  Geneva  Medical 
College,  in  New  York,  in  1847. 


136  MASSACHUSETTS  IN   THE 

The  first  female  medical  college  in  New  Eng- 
land was  organized  by  Dr.  Samuel  Gregory,  of 
Boston.  This  institution  was  chartered  in  1856, 
under  the  name  of  the  New  England  Female 
Medical  College.*  In  1868,  it  had  graduated 
seventy-two  women  physicians,  among  whom  were 
Dr.  Lucy  E.  Sewall  and  Dr.  Helen  Morton,  (who 
afterwards  went  to  Paris,  and  studied  obstetrics 
at  Madame  Aillot's  Hospital  of  Maternity,)  and 
Dr.  Mercy  B.  Jackson.  Dr.  Jackson  practised  in 
Boston,  and  for  five  years  before  her  death,  filled 
the  chair  of  Professor  of  Diseases  of  Children, 
at  Boston  University  School  of  Medicine.  She 
was  a  firm  Suffragist,  an  able  woman,  and  a  good 
physician.     She  died  December  13,  1877. 

In  1859,  the  New  England  Female  Medical 
College  invited  Dr.  Marie  E.  Zakrzewska  to  the 
chair  of  Obstetrics,  and  at  her  suggestion,  a  hos- 
pital, or  clinical  department  was  added,  in  which 
students  might  receive  practical  education.  Dr. 
Zakrzewska  is  a  German  by  birth,  and  studied  in 

*The  New  England  Female  Medical  College  was,  in 
1874,  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  united  with  Boston 
University  School  of  Medicine. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       I37 

the  hospital  Charite  of  Berlin.  She  came  to 
America  with  a  Prussian  diploma  of  midwifery, 
but  desiring  further  knowledge,  went  as  student 
to  the  Western  Reserve  College,  Hudson,  Ohio, 
and  graduated  with  a  full  diploma  as  Doctor 
of  Medicine.  She  then  went  to  New  York, 
where,  in  conjunction  with  Dr.  Elizabeth  Black- 
well  she  established  the  New  York  Infirmary  for 
Indigent  Women. 

After  three  years  service  in  the  New  England 
Female  Medical  College,  Dr.  Zakrzewska  resigned 
her  position,  and  in  co-operation  with  Miss  Lucy 
Goddard  and  Mrs.  Ednah  D.  Cheney,  established 
the  New  England  Hospital  for  Women  and  Child- 
ren. This  institution  was  incorporated  in  1863. 
Its  avowed  objects  were:  i.  To  provide  for  wo- 
men, medical  aid  of  competent  physicians  of  their 
own  sex.  2.  To  assist  educated  women  in  the 
practical  study  of  medicine.  3.  To  train  nurses 
for  the  care  of  the  sick. 

The  hospital  opened  in  a  dwelling  house  on 
Pleasant  street,  in  Boston.  It  now  occupies 
spacious  buildings  on  Codman  Avenue,  Boston 
Highlands.  The  Maternity  house  is  entirely  sepa- 
rate from  the  main  body  of  the  hospital.     Its  fif- 


138  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

teen  free  beds  have  proved  a  beneficent  charity  to 
the  poorer  class  of  women.  The  sick  and  suffer- 
ing are  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  the  institution 
without  distinction  of  color  or  nationality.  Even 
error  does  not  shut  the  poor  woman  from  the 
comforts  of  tlie  Maternity  house.  Its  charity 
work,  done  through  the  free  dispensary  in  Warren- 
ton  street,  is  also  very  great. 

Its  educational  work  is  constantly  on  the  in- 
crease. Six  students  are  usually  resident  at  the 
hospital,  and  several  young  women  are  kept  in 
training  as  nurses  for  the  sick. 

In  1876,  the  New  England  Hospital  had  num- 
bered among  its  students  sixty-four  women  who 
were  afterwards  practising  physicians.  The  Mas- 
sachusetts names  are  Lucy  E.  Sewall,  Helen 
Morton,  C.  Augusta  Pope,  Emily  F.  Pope,  Emma 
L.  Call,  Adelaide  A.  Richardson,  Julia  Marchant, 
Seraph  Frissel  and  Susan  Dimock.  From  1872 
to  1875,  the  lamented  Susan  Dimock  was  resident 
physician  at  this  "dear  hospital,"  as  she  had 
called  it  in  a  written  prayer  found  among  her 
papers  after  her  untimely  death.* 

*Dr.  Dimock  was  shipwrecked  on  her  return  to  America, 
after  a  brief  visit  to  the  hospitals  of  Europe. 


JVOAfAJV  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       139 

Massachusetts  has  many  other  successful  wo- 
men physicians  besides  those  who  have  graduated 
from  the  New  England  Hospital  for  Women  and 
Children,  who  have  been  educated  in  the  medical 
schools  in  other  states  or  countries.  Among 
these  may  be  mentioned  Dr.  Lucy  M.  Hall, 
resident  physician  at  the  Women's  Prison  at  Sher- 
born — the  only  woman  physician  whose  name 
is  found  in  the  New  England  Medical  Register, 
for  188 1. 

Boston  University  is  open  to  both  sexes,  with 
equal  studies,  duties  and  privileges.  This  insti- 
tution was  incorporated  in  1869,  and  includes 
among  other  schools  and  colleges,  a  School  of 
Theology,  a  School  of  Law  and  a  School  of  Medi- 
cine. William  F.  Warren,  LL.  D.,  is  President 
of  the  University,  and  the  corporation  is  made  up 
of  many  distinguished  men  and  women.  Boston 
University  School  of  Medicine  (Homoeopathic), 
was  organized  in  1873,  L  Tisdale  Talbot,  M.  D., 
Dean.  Of  the  thirty-two  lecturers  and  professors 
who  constitute  the  Faculty,  five  are  women.  These 
are  Mary  J.  Safford,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Gynse- 
cology;  Caroline  E.  Hastings,  M.  D.,  Professor 


140  MASSACHUSETTS  IN   THE 

of  Anatomy  j  Annie  E.  Fisher,  M.  D.,  and  Mar- 
tha J.  Flanders,  M.  D.,  Lecturers  on  Diseases  of 
Children ;  Adeline  B.  Church,  M.  D.,.  Assistant 
Demonstrator  in  Clinical  Medicine. 

Since  1874,  seventy-four  women  have  graduated 
from  this  School,  and  of  these,  forty-two  are  now 
practising  in  Massachusetts.  A  fair  average  have 
attained  to  quite  as  extensive  a  practice  as  male 
physicians  aspire  to,  and  have  also  made  for 
themselves  a  good  reputation.  It  is  the  verdict 
of  Dr.  Talbot,  that,  as  a  rule,  the  women  have 
fully  equaled  the  men  graduates  in  thoroughness 
of  medical  attainments.  Besides  those  men- 
tioned as  belonging  to  the  Faculty  of  Boston 
University  School  of  Medicine,  the  following  are 
among  the  best  known  names  of  women  Homoeo- 
pathic physicians  now  practising  in  Massachusetts: 
Arvilla  B.  Haynes,  Laura  M.  Foster,  Emily  Met- 
calf,  Mary  A.  Payne,  Harriet  H.  Hodges,  and 
Harriet  J.  Clisby. 

Boston  University  School  of  Medicine  and  the 
Massachusetts  Homoeopathic  College  occupy  ex- 
tensive and  elegant  buildings  on  East  Concord 
street,  opposite  the  City  Hospital.     The  School 


IVOMAJSr  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       141 

building  contains  three  ample  lecture  rooms,  in- 
cluding an  amphitheatre  capable  of  seating  three 
hundred  students;  laboratories,  a  dissecting-room, 
museum,  and  an  extensive  medical  library.  The 
hospital  contains  forty  beds  devoted  principally 
to  acute  diseases.  During  1880,  a  large  number 
of  cases  have  been  witnessed  by  the  students, 
both  men  and  women,  and  these  and  other  hospi- 
tal facilities  have  greatly  increased  the  means  of 
practical  instruction.  Of  women  in  the  dissect- 
ing-room it  may  be  said,  that  they  are  quite  as 
cool-headed  and  firm  of  nerve  as  are  the  men 
students.  A  Homoeopathic  Medical  Dispensary 
has  been  established  in  connection  with  the  Hos- 
pital, which  has  three  separate  branches  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  Boston.  These  are  accessible  to 
students,  and  from  among  the  large  number  of 
patients  who  daily  resort  to  them,  there  is  excel- 
lent opportunity  for  the  practical  study  of  acute 
and  chronic  diseases.  The  medical  colleges  for 
men  in  many  parts  of  the  United  States  have 
long  since  been  opened  to  women  students,  but 
"  Fair  Harvard,"  whose  advantages  in  this  direc- 
tion are  the  greatest  and  most  to  be  desired  of 


142  MASSACHUSETTS  IN   THE 

any  college  in  the  country,  has,  up  to  this  time, 
refused  to  admit  women  into  its  Medical  School. 
The  women  students  who  still  continue  to  apply 
to  it  for  a  medical  education,  have  so  far,  been 
no  more  successful  than  was  Harriot  K.  Hunt, 
who,  nearly  forty  years  ago  (in  1847),  knocked  at 
its  unyielding  doors. 

The  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  does  not 
admit  women  doctors  to  membership,  though  the 
regular  practitioners  are  generally  willing  to  con- 
sult with  them.  They  also  seem  ready  enough  to 
take  advantage  of  their  experience,  and  of  the 
woman's  insight  into  the  diagnosis  of  special  and 
peculiar  cases.  But  so  far  as  recognition  by  their 
brethren  goes,  the  women  physicians  of  the  regu- 
lar school  in  Massachusetts  are  no  better  off 
than  they  were  in  the  beginning.  The  need  of 
women  in  this  profession  had  so  long  been  felt 
by  the  community  at  large,  that,  whether  regular 
or  irregular^  they  have  slowly  and  surely,  and  in 
spite  of  the  doctors^  made  great  headway  in  the 
profession.  Where  ten  years  ago,  there  was  one 
woman  physician,  there  are  now  scores,  practising 
successfully  in  the  different  towns  and  cities  in 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       143 

the  State,  and  their  names  have  become  house- 
hold words  to  the  sick  and  suffering  of  their 
sex.  Of  woman's  skill  and  success  in  this  pro- 
fession, there  can  be  no  longer  any  doubt.  Even 
the  doctors  themselves  do  not  venture  to  "  disa- 
gree "  on  this  point. 

Woman  ift  the  Church. — Olympia  Brown  was 
the  first  settled  woman  pastor  in  the  State.  Her 
parish  was  at  Weymouth  Landing.  In  1864  she 
petitioned  to  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  "  that 
marriages  performed  by  a  woman  should  be 
made  legal."  The  Committee  on  the  Judiciary, 
to  whom  the  matter  was  referred,  reported  that 
no  legislation  was  necessary  as  "  marriages  solem- 
nized by  women  were  already  legal."  Thus  the 
Legislature  of  the  State  established  the  prece- 
dent, that  "  he "  meant  "  she  "  under  the  law, 
in  one  instance  at  least.  Phoebe  M.  Hanaford, 
Mary  H.  Graves  and  Lorenza  Haynes  were  the 
first  Massachusetts  women  to  be  ordained 
preachers  of  the  Gospel.  Rev.  Miss  Haynes 
has  held  prominent  ministerial  offices  in  Maine, 
where  she  is  now  settled ;  she  has  been  chap- 
lain of  the  Soldier's  Home  at  Togus,  and  also 


144  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

chaplain  of  the  Maine  House  of  Representatives. 
Rev.  Miss  Brown  was  a  noted  speaker  and  worker 
during  the  late  War  of  the  Rebellion,  and  also 
during  the  Kansas  struggle  in  1867. 

The  Harvard  Divinity  School  at  Cambridge 
does  not  yet  admit  women  students;  but  there 
are  other  theological  schools  in  the  State  where 
a  complete  preparation  for  the  ministerial  pro- 
fession can  be  obtained.  There  are  now  a  score 
or  two  of  women  preachers  in  Massachusetts, 
and  whether  ordained  after  the  manner  of  men 
preachers  or  not,  they  preach  the  word  of  God 
in  sincerity  and  to  good  acceptance.  Julia  Ward 
Howe  has  often  performed  pulpit  service  during 
the  last  twelve  years.  Her  pulpit  is  cosmopolitan ; 
one  of  her  most  interesting  preachings  was  to 
the  blacks  of  St.  Domingo.  The  women  minis- 
ters of  the  State  who  bear  the  title  of  Reverend 
are  Ellen  G.  Gustin,  Mary  H.  Graves,  Ada  C. 
Bowles,  Annie  L.  Shaw,  and  perhaps  others. 

The  attitude  of  the  Church  towards  the  woman 
question  has  greatly  changed  within  thirty  years. 
There  is  now  hardly  any  denomination,  except 
the  Catholic  and  the  Episcopalian,  which  requires 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       1 45 

women  to  "keep  silent  in  the  churches,"  or 
refuses  to  let  them  take  part  in  the  deliberations 
of  church  or  parish  meetings.  As  early  as  1869, 
women  began  to  serve  on  committees,  and  to 
be  ordained  deaconesses  of  churches;  and  the 
Jews  about  that  time  first  permitted  women  to 
take  a  certain  part  in  the  services  of  the  syna- 
gogue. 

Women  also  hold  important  offices  connected 
with  the  different  church  organizations.  They 
serve  on  the  boards  of  state  and  national  relig- 
ious associations,  and  on  boards  of  directors  of 
church  institutions.  There  are  also  missionary 
associations,  both  home  and  foreign,  centenaries, 
Christian  unions,  and  auxiliary  associations,  all 
officered  and  managed  entirely  by  women.  Even 
the  treasurers  of  these  large  bodies  are  women, 
and  their  husbands  or  trustees  are  no  longer 
required  to  give  bonds  for  them.* 

In  1880,  the  Massachusetts  Woman  Suffrage 
Association    sent    a    memorial    to   the    Monday 


*  In  1840,  a  woman  could  not  legally  be  treasurer  of 
even  a  sewing  society  without  having  some  man  responsi- 
ble for  her. 

10 


146  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

meetings  of  the  Methodist,  the  Baptist,  and  the 
Unitarian  ministers  of  Boston,  in  which  they 
asked  each  one  present  to  bring  the  question  of 
suffrage  for  women  in  some  way  before  his  own 
congregation.  No  answer  was  received  from  the 
Baptist  or  the  Unitarian  ministers ;  but  the 
Methodist  ministers  took  the  memorial  up  for 
discussion,  Dr.  Warren,  president  of  Boston 
University,  Rev.  Dr.  Cummings,  and  Rev.  J.  W. 
Bashford  taking  the  affirmative.  They  reported 
the  result  substantially  as  follows :  "  We  have 
carefully  considered  the  subject,  and  we  accord 
hearty   and    entire    sympathy    and    co-operation 

favorable  to  the  elevation  of  woman 

For  in  Christ  Jesus  'there  is  neither  Jew  nor 
Greek,  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free,  there  is 
neither  male  nor  female.'  They  are  all  parts  of 
one  body.  The  place  of  woman  in  the  church  is 
every  day  becoming  more  important  and  con- 
spicuous  To  the  women  of  the  Suf- 
frage Association  we  extend  our  sincere  and 
cordial  congratulations,  and  shall  be  pleased  to 
afford  them  such  aid  in  their  good  work  as  we 
may  from  time  to  time  be  able."     At  the  late 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       147 

general  conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  the  word  "  male  "  was  stricken  from  the 
discipline,  and  the  word  "  person  "  inserted  in  its 
place,  in  all  cases  save  those  that  concerned  the 
ordained  clergy.  Though  there  is  this  little 
"  hitch  "  about  ordaining  women  preachers,  this 
denomination  has  indeed  taken  a  long  step  in 
advance  of  its  position  in  1868,  when  Gilbert 
Haven  entered  the  "procession."  About  that 
time,  at  a  Monday  meeting  of  Methodist  minis- 
ters he  made  a  speech  in  which  he  warned  his 
brethren  that,  whether  they  wanted  it  or  not, 
woman  suffrage  was  sure  to  come  "  as  soon  as  a 
few  more  of  you  old  fogies  are  out  of  the  way."  * 
Woman  as  Lawyer. — It  is  a  notable  fact,  that 
in  Massachusetts  the  "woman  intruding  ele- 
ment" has  not  as  yet  entered  the  so-called 
learned  profession  of  the  law.  The  State  has 
had  no  Belva  A.  Lockwood,  J.  Ellen  Foster,  nor 
Myra  Bradwell  to  plead  for  the  legal  rights  of 
women  before  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court.    Only 

*At  the  last  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Massachusetts 
Woman  Suffrage  Association,  held  in  January,  1881,  six 
out  of  the  twenty-four  speakers  were  Methodist  ministers. 


148  MASSACHUSETTS  IN   THE 

one  woman  has  yet  dared  to  venture  within  the 
intricacies  of  the  courts  of  law.  This  was  Mary 
E.  Stevens,  the  daughter  and  co-partner  of  Ed- 
ward S.  Stevens,  conveyancer.  Miss  Stevens 
may  have  done  a  little  outside  law  business,  but 
she  was  not  a  member  of  the  Bar,  and  therefore 
not  a  "regular"  lawyer. 

In  Iowa,  California,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Michigan, 
Texas,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Ohio,  New  York, 
and  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  women  have 
been  admitted  to  practice  in  the  United  States 
Courts,  as  well  as  in  the  courts  of  their  respective 
states.  Belva  A.  Lockwood  and  J.  Ellen  Foster 
are  both  admirable  forensic  lawyers. 

It  need  hardly  be  said,  that  the  Law  School  at 
Harvard  is  not  open  to  women.  Boston  Uni- 
versity, however,  has  long  ago  offered  the  advan- 
tages of  its  Law  School  to  women  students  on  the 
same  terms  on  which  men  students  are  admitted. 
Women  do  not  seem  to  avail  themselves  to  any 
extent  of  this  chance  to  study  law.  In  its  cata- 
logue and  circular  for  1879-80  only  one,  Lelia 
Josephine  Robinson,  is  found  among  its  long  lists 
of  students.     This  young  lady  was  born  in  Bos- 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.        149 

ton  and  is  a  direct  descendant  of  Rev.  John 
Robinson,  the  pastor  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers. 
She  entered  Boston  University  School  of  Law  in 
1878,  and  has  pursued  her  three  years'  course  of 
study  there  in  company  with  one  hundred  and 
fifty — more  or  less  —  men  students.  Miss  Rob- 
inson graduated  in  the  summer  of  188 1,  and  is 
the  first  woman  lawyer  who  has  ever  graduated  in 
Massachusetts.  In  March,  188 1,  she  made  her 
application  for  admission  to  the  Bar,  and  Chief 
Justice  Gray,  desiring  to  hear  an  argument  sup- 
porting her  claims  as  a  citizen,  a  hearing  before 
the  Court  took  place,  April  23.  She  prepared, 
unaided',  the  brief  from  which  Hon.  Charles  R. 
Train,  her  counsel,  argued  her  case.  In  present- 
ing her  claim,  Mr.  Train  admitted  that  it  was  a 
novel  one  :  but  in  a  very  effective  manner,  he  went 
on  to  state  the  cogent  reasons  why  a  woman  who 
had  carefully  prepared  herself  for  the  profession 
of  the  Law,  should  be  permitted  to  practice  in 
the  courts.  At  the  close.  Chief  Justice  Gray  gave 
the  opinion  informally,  that  the  laws,  as  they  now 
exist,  preclude  woman  from  being  attorney  at  law 
but  he  reserved  the  matter  for  the  consideration 


150  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

of  the  full  bench.  If  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Judicial  Court  is  adverse  to  Miss  Robinson's 
claim,  she  will  probably  apply  to  the  Legislature 
for  a  change  of  statute,  so  that  "he"  may  mean 
"she"  in  the  legal,  as  well  as  in  the  ministerial 
profession.  That  body  will  probably  follow  the 
precedent  established  in  1875,  and  pass  an  act 
declaring  that  "no  person  shall  be  deemed  ineli- 
gible to  practice  law  by  reason  of  sex  !  "  Miss 
Robinson  gives  a' very  pleasant  testimony  of  the 
consideration,  assistance  and  encouragement 
given  her  during  her  three  years'  course  in  the 
Law  School,  by  professors,  instructors  and  stu- 
dents. Not  a  single  word,  act  or  look,  has  ever 
made  her  feel  ill  at  ease,  or  out  of  place.  Boston 
University  School  of  Law  is  the  only  law  school  in 
New  England,  or  this  side  of  Washington,  D.  C, 
that  is  open  to  both  sexes.  No  woman  has  yet 
graduated  there,  and  three  only  have  ever  been 
there  as  students  of  law.  So  far  as  known,  there 
is  only  one  woman  lawyer  in  New  England,— 
Miss  Nash,  of  Portland,  Maine.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  Miss  Robinson  will  persevere  and  gain  legal 
entrance  into  her  chosen  profession,  and  that  in 


WOMAJV  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT. 


time,  either  she  or  some  other  "  sweet  girl  gradu- 
ate "  will  prove  to  the  skeptical  world  with  what 
aptitude  the  female  mind  can  deal  with  the  "  nice 
sharp  quillets  of  the  law." 

Woman  in  Art.  The  three  best  known  women 
sculptors  in  this  country  were  born  and  bred  in 
Massachusetts.  They  are  Harriet  Hosmer,  Mar- 
garet Foley  and  Anne  Whitney.  Harriet  Hosmer 
was  the  first  to  free  herself  from  the  traditions  of 
her  sex  and  follow  her  profession  as  a  sculptor. 
When  she  desired  to  fit  herself  for  her  vocation 
there  was  no  art  school  east  of  the  Mississippi 
River  where  she  could  study  anatomy,  or  find 
suitable  models.  Margaret  Foley,  who,  amid  the 
hum  of  the  machinery  in  the  Lowell  cotton  mills, 
first  conceived  the  idea  of  chiseling  her  thought 
on  the  surface  of  a  "smooth-lipped  shell,"  was 
obliged  to  go  to  Rome  in  order  to  get  the  neces- 
sary instruction  in  cameo  cutting.  There  her 
genius  developed  so  much  that  she  began  to 
model  in  clay  and  soon  became  a  successful 
sculptor  in  marble.  Lucy  Larcom,  in  her  "  Idyl 
of  Work,"  says  of  Miss  Foley : 

"That  broad-browed  delicate  girl  will  carve  at  Rome, 
Faces  in  marble,  classic  as  her  own." 


152  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

A  free  art  school  in  Boston  was  opened  to 
women  in  1867,  and  Anne  Whitney  was  not 
obliged  to  go  to  Rome  for  instruction  in  the 
appliances  of  her  art.  Harriet  Hosmer  and  Mar- 
garet Foley  have  both  made  statues  which  adorn 
the  public  buildings  and  parks  of  their  native 
country;  and  Anne  Whitney's  statue  of  Samuel 
Adams  which  stands  in  Adams  Square  (formerly 
Dock  Square),  in  Boston,  speaks  for  itself,  and 
is  the  crowning  work  of  her  genius. 

No  great  work  has  yet  been  done  by  a  Massa- 
chusetts woman  in  oil  painting,  but  in  water 
colors,  and  in  decorative  art,  many  women  have 
excelled,  first  prizes  in  superiority  of  design  having 
been  taken  by  them  over  their  men  competitors. 
Lizzie  B.  Humphrey,  Jessie  Curtis,  Mary  Hallock 
Foote  and  Fidelia  Bridges,  take  high  rank  as 
designers.  Helen  M.  Knowlton,  a  pupil  of  Wil- 
liam M.  Hunt,  is  a  skillful  artist  in  charcoal  and 
has  produced  some  fine  pictures  in  this  medium. 
Women  form  a  large  proportion  of  the  students  in 
the  school  of  design  recently  opened  in  Boston. 

A  great  deal  of  the  ornamental  painting  now 
so  fashionable  on  cards  and  all  fancy  articles  is 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       1 53 

done  by  the  deft  fingers  of  women,  and  the 
woman  artist,  either  amateur  or  artisan,  is  almost 
as  common  as  the  woman  writer. 

Of  woman  as  actress  and  public  singer,  it 
would  be  unnecessary  to  speak,  since  she  has 
the  right  of  way  in  both  these  professions. 
Here,  fortunately,  the  supply  does  not  exc^d 
the  demand ;  consequently  she  has  her  full  share 
of  rights,  and  what  is  better,  an  equal  amount 
of  pay  for  her  labor. 

Woman  as  journalist  and  Author. — In  1841, 
when  Lydia  Maria  Child  edited  the  Anti-Slavery 
Standard,  Margaret  Fuller  the  Dial,  and  Har- 
riot F.  Curtis  and  Harriet  Farley  the  Lowell 
Offering,  there  were  perhaps  in  New  England  (if 
in  the  country),  no  other  well  known  women 
journalists  or  editors.  Cornelia  Walter  of  the 
Evening  Transcript  was  the  first  woman  journal- 
ist in  Boston.  To-day,  women  are  editors  and 
publishers  of  newspapers  all  over  the  United 
States ;  and  the  woman's  column  is  a  part  of  the 
make-up  of  many  a  leading  newspaper.  The 
names  are  almost  numberless  of  women  who 
furnish  articles  for  the  daily  and  weekly  press, 


154  MASSACHUSETTS  IN   THE 

or  are  on  the  staff  as  correspondents  or  report- 
ers. Sallie  Joy  White  was  the  first  regular  woman 
reporter  in  Boston.  She  began  on  the  Boston 
Post,  a  democratic  newspaper,  in  1870.  Her 
first  work  was  to  report  the  proceedings  of  a 
woman  suffrage  meeting.  She  is  now  on  the 
staff  of  the  Boston  Daily  Advertiser.  There  are 
so  many  women  who  now  write  for  the  papers, 
one  might  almost  say  that  the  woman  of  brains 
who  does  not  dabble  in  printer's  ink  is  an  excep- 
tion. 

Some  of  the  best  magazine  writing  of  the  time 
is  done  by  women ;  one  needs  but  to  look  over 
the  table  of  contents  of  the  leading  periodicals 
to  see  how  large  a  proportion  of  the  articles 
are  written  by  them.  Really,  the  sex  seems  to 
have  entered  into  and  taken  possession  of  what 
Carlyle  called  the  "fourth  estate," — the  literary 
profession,  and  they  journey  into  unexplored 
regions  of  thought  as  well  as  into  hitherto  undis- 
covered countries  to  give  the  omnivorous  modern 
reader  something  new  to  feed  upon. 

Among  the  Massachusetts  women  whose  liter- 
ary reputations  are  almost  cosmopolitan,  may  be 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  A/Ol-hMEXT.        155 

mentioned  the  names  of  Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps, 
Harriet  Prescott  Spofford,  Adeline  D.  T.  Whit- 
ney, Caroline  H.  Dall,  Louisa  M.  Alcott,  Ednah 
D.  Cheney,  Elizabeth  P.  Peabody,  Abby  Morton 
Diaz,  and  Gail  Hamilton. 

One  hundred  years  ago  Massachusetts  could 
boast  of  only  two  women  poets ;  and  one  of 
them,  Phillis  Wheatley,  was  black  and  had  been 
a  slave.  The  women  poets  of  the  State  have  not 
increased  in  so  large  a  ratio  as  have  the 
writers  of  prose.  In  the  verses  of  Julia  Ward 
Howe,  Helen  Hunt  Jackson,  Elizabeth  Stuart 
Phelps,  Lucy  Larcom,  Anne  Whitney,  Sarah  H. 
Palfrey  and  Annie  T.  Fields  can  be  found  the 
expression  of  the  womanly  element  in  the  poetic 
thought  of  the  State. 

Woman  as  Speaker  afid  Lecturer. —  It  has 
been  mentioned  what  great  opposition  existed 
to  women  as  public  speakers  when  Abby  Kelley 
Foster  and  Angelina  Grimke  appeared  upon  the 
anti-slavery  platform.  Even  twenty  years  ago 
the  number  of  women  who  dared  to  be  heard 
before  a  small  audience  could  be  counted  upon 
one's  fingers.     To-day,  in   Massachusetts  alone, 


156  MASSACHUSETTS  IN   THE 

Lucy  Stone,  Mary  Ashton  Livermore,  Julia  Ward 
Howe,  Ednah  Dow  Cheney,  Abba  Goold  Wool- 
son,  Mary  F.  Eastman,  Kate  Gannett  Wells, 
Anna  Garlin  Spencer  and  a  host  of  others  are 
before  the  public,  either  as  professional  lecturers 
or  speakers  at  clubs  and  private  meetings. 

Here,  in  particular,  must  be  claimed  the  credit 
due  the  W^oman's  Rights  movement.  It  cannot  be 
denied  that,  but  for  the  opportunity  given  them 
to  speak  upon  its  platform,  many  of  the  women 
now  so  celebrated  as  orators  and  lecturers  would 
have  remained  mute  and  inglorious, —  perhaps 
even  forever  unknown  to  an  admiring  public. 
The  unpopular  reform  once  needing  so  much 
the  help  of  women  speakers,  became  in  time  a 
helper  to  them.  Upon  the  suffrage  platform 
many  a  novice  has  first  learned  to  think  upon 
her  feet,  and  to  express  her  thoughts  before  a 
loving  and  appreciative  audience ;  and  from  this 
humble  beginning  or  stepping-place  more  than 
one  woman  lecturer  in  the  State  has  mounted  to 
a  higher  rostrum. 

Womaji  as  Office  Holder. — The  number  of 
.offices    to    which    women    are    eligible,    in    this 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       157 

State,  has  been  enumerated  in  the  chapter  on 
Legal  and  Legislative  History,  As  United  States 
official,  woman  has  not  an  extensive  record.  In 
1862,  Salmon  P.  Chase  appointed  the  first  woman 
postmaster.  In  188 1,  of  the  44,140  post  offices 
in  the  United  States,  4,000,  or  about  one-tenth, 
are  managed  by  women  postmasters.  Since  the 
passage  of  the  Act  of  Congress  authorizing  the 
appointment  of  married  women  to  this  office, 
their  number  has  rapidly  increased.  The  Post- 
master General  has  always  been  favorable  to 
women  in  the  Department,  and  has  appointed 
quite  a  number  to  clerkships  Vv-hich  require  that 
the  incumbent  shall  have  a  superior  education, 
and  a  knowledge  of  foreign  languages.  These 
superior  women  clerks  in  the  Post  Office  Depart- 
ment at  Washington  now  number  in  all  between 
ninety  and  one  hundred.  Of  woman's  capacity  as 
postmaster  the  opinion  of  the  First  Assistant 
Postmaster  General  is,  that  they  "perform  their 
duties  with  credit  to  themselves  and  honor  to 
their  country."  Women  postmasters  are  par- 
ticularly popular  in  the  small  offices  in  the  farm- 
ing districts.  In  some  rural  sections  the  "post 
office "  is  a  bureau,   or   a   table   drawer    in  the 


158  MASSACHUSETTS  IX  THE 

kitchen  or  fore-room,  and  it  is  much  more  con- 
venient for  a  woman  to  have  charge  of  its  con- 
tents because  she  is  always  "  at  home "  and 
ready  to  receive  and  disburse  the  mail.  There 
are  several  women  holding  appointments  at  the 
larger  offices  who  have  proved  entirely  competent 
in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  incumbent  upon 
them,  and  (to  quote  again  from  headquarters), 
they  "  are  universally  honest  in  money  matters." 
Through  the  efforts  of  the  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of   Women,*  the    Census    Bureau 

*The  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Women,  a 
national  organization,  was  projected  in  1873  by  "  Sorosis," 
a  woman's  club  in  New  York  City.  Its  first  congress  was 
held  in  that  city  in  the  Union  League  Theatre.  Its  first 
president  was  Mary  Ashton  Livermore,  and  on  the  execu- 
tive board  were  the  names  of  representative  women  from 
all  parts  of  the  United  States.  Since  its  formation  it  has 
held  an  annual  congress  in  New  York,  Illinois,  Pennsylva- 
nia, Ohio,  Rhode  Island,  Wisconsin,  and  lastly  in  Massachu- 
setts. At  these  meetings  a  great  variety  of  ethical  subjects 
are  presented  in  papers  or  lectures  written  by  women,  and 
they  are  freely  discussed  by  the  members  present. 

Since  1S76,  "A.  A.  W."  has  gradually  drifted  from  the 
control  of  its  founders  and  Massachusetts  women  now 
**  turn  the  crank  "  of  the  machinery  of  the  association. 

Since  the  State  has  lost  its  former  prestige  of  leadership 
in  national  and  political  affairs,  it  may  be  that  the  women 
of  our  ambitious  Commonwealth  are  destined  to  take  the 
lead  in  discussing  the  ethical,  social,  and  moral  questions 
of  the  day. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       1 59 

has  been  opened  to  women.  A  committee  of 
ladies  from  this  association  waited  upon  Gen.  F. 
A.  Walker,  superintendent  of  the  Census,  and 
requested  him  to  appoint  a  certain  proportion  of 
women  as  enumerators  under  the  tenth  Census 
Act  of  1880.  He  responded  favorably^  and  in- 
structed the  supervisors  of  the  several  districts 
to  appoint  women  to  this  office  when  practicable. 
They  were  accordingly  so  appointed  in  many 
parts  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Carroll  D. 
Wright,  supervisor  of  the  district  of  Massachu- 
setts was- in  favor  of  Gen.  Walker's  instructions, 
and  out  of  the  nine  hundred  and  three  enumera- 
tors appointed  by  him,  thirty  were  women.*  This 
was  an  exceedingly  large  proportion  compared 
with  the  number  appointed  in  states  where  super- 
visors were  not  in  favor  of  women  enumerators. 

It  may  be  well  to  add  here,  that  organized 
bodies  of  women  have  latterly  been  recognized, 
and  entertained  officially,  in  Massachusetts  as 
well  as  in  other  states.     In  1880  Mayor  Prince 

*  Mr.  Carroll  D.  Wright's  opinion  of  women  enumerators 
is,  that  "  on  the  whole  they  performed  their  work  as  well 
as  the  men." 


l6o  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

of  Boston  received  the  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Women,  and,  in  behalf  of  the 
city  of  Boston  invited  the  members  of  that  body- 
to  take  an  excursion  to  Deer  Island.  Here  they 
were  shown  the  reform  school  for  boys  and  girls, 
one  of  the  City  institutions,  and  were  provided 
with  lunch  at  the  expense  of  the  city.  Gov- 
ernor Long  also  received  this  Association  at  the 
State  House,  and  in  a  graceful  speech  welcomed 
the  members,  coming  as  they  did  from  all  parts 
of  the  United  States,  to  the  hospitality  of  the 
Commonwealth. 

Women  are  members  and  hold  high  positions 
in  many  of  the  state  and  national  scientific  and 
social  science  associations.*  They  are  officers 
as  well  as  members  of  the  Granges,  and  also 
of  many  other  secret  societies  originally  estab- 
lished for  men  alone.  A  National  Society  for 
Political    Education,    formed    in    1880,    invites 

*  The  American  Social  Science  Association  was  formed 
in  1865,  and  women  were  put  on  its  board  of  officers.  In 
1865  the  Boston  Social  Science  Association  was  organized, 
and  seven  women  were  on  its  list  of  officers.  These  were 
the  first  large  organizations  in  the  country  to  admit  women 
on  an  absolute  equality  with  men. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       i6l 

women  members,  and  has  at  least  one  woman  on 
its  board  of  officers.  What  would  have  been 
thought  thirty  years  ago,  if  women  had  studied 
finance,  political  economy,  banks  and  banking, 
money,  currency,  sociology  and  political  science  ? 
To  show  that  in  the  march  of  events,  the 
woman  element  is  carried  into  all  new  enter- 
prises, it  will  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  make 
some  mention  of  the  Summer  School  of  Philoso- 
phy at  Concord,  Massachusetts.  This  new  school 
of  Philosophy  was  founded  in  1879.  Its  projec- 
tors were  A.  Bronson  Alcott,  Ralph  Waldo  Emer- 
son, Professor  W.  T.  Harris,  Frank  B.  Sanborn, 
Professor  Benjamin  Pierce,  Dr.  H.  K.  Jones, 
Elizabeth  P.  Peabody  and  Ednah  D.  Cheney. 
On  the  list  of  lecturers  for  the  summer  of  1881, 
are  the  names  of  three  women,  Julia  Ward  Howe, 
Ednah  D.  Cheney  and  Elizabeth  P.  Peabody. 
Unlike  the  elder  Schools  of  Philosophy,  here  the 
women  students  are  in  the  majority,  and  they 
come  from  near  and  far,  to  spend  a  few  weeks  of 
their  summer  vacation  in  the  enjoyment  of  this 
halcyon  season  of  rest.  Day  after  day  they  sit 
patiently  on  the   aesthetic    benches  of  the   Hill- 


1 62  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

side  Chapel  and  bask  *'  in  the  cahn  light  of  mild 
philosophy." 

The  Concord  School  is  a  school  of  Christian 
philosophy  and  morals,  and  its  teachings  are 
destined  to  be  planted  deep  with  roots  far  spread- 
ing in  all  the  community  of  thought.  Its  seed 
was  sown  forty  years  ago,  in  what  was  called  the 
Transcendental  movement  in  New  England. 
That  could  not  become  a  permanent  power, 
because  it  savored  too  much  of  Pantheism,  and 
there  was  no  executive  force  among  its  members. 
The  Concord  School  finds  in  Mr.  Sanborn  its 
executive  spirit,  without  which  it  could  no  more 
have  come  into  existence  at  this  time  than  its 
first  seed  could  have  been  planted  forty  years 
ago  without  Mr.  Emerson's  and  Mr.  Alcott's  ideal 
and  conceptive  thought. 

Women  in  the  Useful  Occupations. — There  has 
never  been,  from  time  immemorial,  much  differ- 
ence of  opinion  concerning  woman's  right  to  do 
a  good  share  in  the  drudgery  of  the  labor  of  the 
world.  But  in  the  remunerative  employments, 
before  1850,  she  was  but  sparsely  represented. 
In   1840,  when    Harriet   Martineau  visited   this 


WOMAN-  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       163 

country,  she  found  to  her  surprise  (in  a  free  coun- 
try) that  there  were  only  seven  vocations,  outside 
the  home,  into  which  the  women  of  the  United 
States  had  entered.*  In  contrast  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  mention  that  in  Massachusetts  alone, 
woman's  ingenuity  is  now  employed  in  over  one 
hundred  different  branches  of  industry,  many  of 
which  were  once  thought  to  be  man's  work  alone. 
It  cannot  be  added  that  for  doing  the  same  kind 
and  amount  of  work  women  are  paid  men's 
wages. 

Among  the  many  rights  woman  has  appropri- 
ated to  herself  must  be  included  the  "patent 
right."  The  charge  has  often  been  made  that 
^omen  never  invent  anything — but  statistics  on 
the  subject  declare  that  in  1880  patents  for  their 
own  inventions  were  issued  to  seventy  different 
women  in  the  United  States. f 

*  These  were,  "  teaching,  needlework,  keeping  boarders, 
cotton  mills,  compositors,  and  folding  and  stitching  in 
bookbindery."  Following  the  New  England  mode  of 
expression  at  the  time,  they  may  be  classed  differently,  viz. : 
teachers,  boarding-house  keepers,  help,  (or  servants),  fac- 
tory girls,  compositors,  workers  in  book  bindery,  tailor- 
esses,  milliners,  mantuamakers,  and  dressmakers. 

t  Most  of  the  inventions  of  women  have  to  do  with  house- 


1 64  MASSACHUSETTS  IN   THE 

According  to  the  census  of  1880,  there  are  in 
Massachusetts  66,044  more  women  than  men.  In 
view  of  this  fact  it  is  fortunate  that  this  great 
opening  has  been  made,  by  which  some  at  least 
of  the  "  anxious  and  aimless "  women  of  the 
State  can  earn  an  honest  livelihood.  To  show 
what  a  large  proportion  of  these  surplus  citizens 
of  the  Commonwealth  are  doing,  it  may  be  said, 
that  in  Boston  alone,  there  are  20,000  shop  and 
sewing  girls,  from  20,000  to  25,000  in  domestic 
service,  and  5,000  lost  (or  worse  than  lost)  women. 

The  reform  in  public  sentiment  which  made 
possible  woman's  great  advance  in  the  various 
departments  of  life,  was  not  brought  about  with- 
out a  vast  deal  of  opposition  on  the  part  of  cer*- 
tain  public  teachers  and  writers.  Though  the 
"rib"  doctrine  had  long  been  ruled  out  of  the 
pulpit,  and  the  "  hen  "  argument  abandoned  by 

hold  appliances.  Among  the  past  year's  are  a  jar-lifter,  a 
bag-holder,  a  pillow-sham-holder,  dress-protector,  two  dust- 
pans, a  washing-machine,  a  fluting-iron,  a  dress-chart,  a  fish- 
boner,  a  sleeve-adjuster,  a  lap-table,  a  sewing-machine- 
treadle,  a  wash-basin,  an  iron-heater,  sad-irons,  a  garment- 
stiffener,  a  folding-chair,  a  wardrobe  bed,  a  weather  strip, 
a  churn,  an  invalid's  bed,  a  strainer,  a  milk-cooler,  a  sofa- 
bed,  a  dipper,  a  paper-dish,  and  a  plating  device. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       165 

the  newspapers,  prominent  men  were  still  found 
who  were  eager  to  speak  and  write  against  this 
new  development  of  the  race, —  this  feminine 
"  birth  of  the  time." 

Dr.  Bushnell's  "  Reform  Against  Nature,"  the 
first  book  of  note  written  against  woman's  rights  j 
Dr.  Todd's  *'  Dove  in  the  Serpent's  Nest " ;  Dr. 
Fulton's  talk,  both  in  and  out  of  the  pulpit, 
served  to  show  the  weakness  of  that  side  of  the 
question.  Later,  Francis  Parkman,  Dr.  J.  G. 
Holland,  Carlos  White,  and  even  some  women 
writers,  have  added  their  so-called  arguments,  in 
the  vain  attempt  to  keep  woman  as  they  think 
*'God  made  her."  Such  writings  can  be  called 
nothing  better  than  rubbish,  since  in  them  there 
is  no  logical  reasoning  against  Woman  Suffrage 
as  a  right.  Indeed,  to  the  arguments  in  favor  of 
this  reform,  there  has  yet  been  no  valid  reply  by 
anybody. 

Much  the  stronger  writers  and  speakers  have 
been  found  on  the  right  side  of  this  question. 
The  names  of  leading  speakers  have  already 
been  mentioned.  Perhaps  the  most  suggestive 
articles   in   favor  were    Mr.  T.  W.   Higginson's 


1 66  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

"Ought  Women  to  Learn  the  Alphabet,"  pub- 
lished in  the  Atlantic  Monthly  of  February, 
1859,  and  Mr.  Samuel  Bowles's  "The  Woman 
Question  and  Sex  in  Politics,"  published  at  a 
later  date  in  the  Springfield  Republican.  "  War- 
rington," in  his  letters  to  the  same  newspaper 
from  1868  to  1876,  never  failed  to  present  a  good 
and  favorable  argument  on  some  phase  of  the 
woman  question.  Caroline  Healey  Ball's  lectures 
before  i860,  and  her  book  "The  College,  the 
Market  and  the  Court,"  published  in  1868,  were 
seed-grain  sown  in  the  field  of  this  reform, 
Samuel  E.  Sewall's  able  digest  of  the  laws 
relating  to  the  legal  condition  of  married  women, 
and  William  I.  Bowditch's  admirable  pamphlets, 
have  done  incalculable  service.* 

The  newspaper  itself,  that  great  engine  "  who 
has  her  ambassadors  in  every  quarter  of  the 
globe,  her  couriers  upon  every  road,"  has  slowly 
swung  round,  and  is  at  last  headed  in  the  right 
direction.  Quietly  and  surely  the  press  has 
indoctrinated  the  people  into  a  recognition  of 
the  importance  of  the  Woman's  Rights  question. 

♦  See  note  to  page  116. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       167 

Reporters  for  the  daily  press  in  Massachusetts 
no  longer  write  in  a  spirit  of  flippancy  or  con- 
tempt concerning  the  proceedings  of  Woman 
Suffrage  meetings ;  and  where  is  there  an  editor 
in  the  State  of  any  account  who  would  permit  a 
member  of  the  staff  on  his  newspaper  to  report 
a  woman's  meeting  in  any  other  spirit  than  that 
of  courtesy? 

Public  teachers  occupying  high  position  and 
presidents  of  colleges  (not  Harvard)  have  given 
pronounced  opinions  in  favor  of  the  reform. 
When  such  leading  minds  as  those  of  Dr.  Storrs, 
President  Seelye  and  President  Hopkins,  proclaim 
it  as  their  opinion  that  the  time  has  come  for 
women  to  take  part  in  public  affairs,  it  shows 
that  both  college  and  church  are  no  longer  in 
opposition  to  the  advancement  of  women. 

Said  President  Hopkins  of  Williams  College, 
in  1875  :  "I  would  at  this  point  correct  my 
teaching  in  The  Law  of  Love,  to  the  effect  that 
home  is  peculiarly  the  sphere  of  woman,  and  civil 
government  that  of  man.  I  now  regard  the  home 
as  the  joint  sphere  of  man  and  woman,  and  the 
sphere  of  civil  government  more  of  an  open 
question  between  the  two." 


l68  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

Dr.  Storrs,  in  1879,  ^^^  speaking  of  the  position 
of  women  in  the  time  to  come,  said  :  "  It  is  in 
the  midst  of  this  movement  that  we  stand,  have 
been  standing  in  these  past  years,  and  are  to 
stand  in  the  years  to  come.  It  cannot  be 
arrested.  The  push  of  centuries  is  behind  it. 
The  strong  instincts  of  human  society  are  work- 
ing for  it,  and  with  it,  all  the  time.  *  *  *  No 
man  can  stop  this,  any  more  than  he  can  set  his 
foot  against  5'onder  tent  pole,  and  say,  */  will 
arrest  the  revolution  of  the  globe. ^  '* 

The  New  England  Women's  Club,  parent*  of 
the  modern  women's  clubs,  and  associations  for 
the  advancement  of  women,  has  been  one  of  the 
greatest  factors  in  the  woman's  rights  movement. 
Though  this  club  is  not  a  suffrage  (any  more  than 
it  is  a  temperance,  or  a  literary)  club,  its  mem- 
bers have,  in  their  work  and  in  their  lives,  illus- 
trated the  doctrine  of  woman's  equality  with  man. 

*  In  1836  there  was  a  small  woman's  club  of  Lowell 
factory  operatives,  officered  and  managed  entirely  by 
women.  This  may  be  a  remote  first  cause  of  the  origin  of 
the  N.  E.  W.  Club,  since  it  bears  the  same  relation  to  that 
flourishing  institution,  that  the  native  crab  does  to  the 
grafted  tree. 


PVOA/AJV  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.        1 69 

The  New  England  Women's  Club  was  formed 
in  February,  1868.  A  few  ladies  met  at  the  house 
of  Dr.  Harriot  K.  Hunt,  to  consider  a  plan  for 
organizing  a  club  for  women.  Its  avowed  object 
was  "to  supply  the  daily  increasing  need  of  a 
great  central  resting  place,  for  the  comfort  and 
convenience  of  those  who  may  wish  to  unite  with 
us,  and  ultimately  become  a  centre  for  united  and 
organized  social  thought  and  action." 

Its  first  president  was  Caroline  M.  Severance. 
On  the  executive  board  were  the  names  of  Julia 
Ward  Howe,  Ednah  D.  Cheney,  Lucy  Goddard, 
Harriet  M.  Pitman,  Jane  Alexander,  Abby  W. 
May,  and  many  others  who  have  since  become 
well  known.  This  club  held  its  first  meetings  in 
private  houses,  but  it  has  for  several  years 
occupied  spacious  club  rooms  on  Park  street,  in 
Boston.  Julia  Ward  Howe  is  its  president.  The 
club  has  its  own  historian,  and  when  this  official 
gives  the  result  of  her  researches  to  the  public, 
there  will  be  seen  how  many  projects  for  the 
elevation  of  women  and  the  improvement  of 
social  life,  have  had  their  inception  in  the  brains 


170  .MA SSA CHUSE TTS  IN  THE 

of  those  who  assemble  in  the  parlors  of  the  New 
England  Women's  Club.* 

A  thousand  little  streams  have  helped  to  swell 
the  tide  which  has  uplifted  the  sphere  of  woman's 
life.  The  modern  novel  has  added  its  "  winning 
wave."  Its  heroine  is  no  longer  an  Amanda,  a 
Malvina,  or  a  Melissa,  whose  dove-like  eyes  are 
ever  pleading  for  male  protection.  She  is  more 
often  a  female  doctor,  as  in  Charles  Reade's 
novel,  who  saves  the  life  of  the  hero,  or,  as  in 
W.  D.  Howells'  story,  she  is  a  brave  New  Eng- 
land girl,  who  travels  from  continent  to  continent, 
unprotected  save  by  her  own  honor  and  her  own 
pride. 

The  drama  speaks  too  feebly  on  the  right  side 
of  the  woman  question.  No  modern  successful 
dramatist  has  made  this  "humour"  of  the  times 
the  subject  of  his  play.  An  effort  was  made  in 
1879,  by  the  executive  committee  of  the  New 
England  Woman  Suffrage  Association,  to  secure 

*  In  1874,  it  projected  the  movement  by  which  women 
were  first  elected  on  the  School  Committee  of  Boston,  and 
also  prepared  the  petition  to  be  sent  to  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature  of  1879,  the  result  of  which  was  the  passage  of 
the  law  allowing  women  to  vote  for  School  Committees. 


WOMAJV  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.        17 1 

a  woman  suffrage  play ;  but  it  was  not  successful, 

and  there  is  yet  to  be  written  a  counteractive  to 

that  popular  burlesque,  "  The  Spirit  of  '76."     It 

is  to  be  regretted  that  the  stage  still  continues  to 

ridicule    the    woman's   rights  movement  and  its 

leaders  ;  for,  as  Hamlet  says  : 

"  The  play 's  the  thing, 
Wherein  I  '11  catch  the  conscience  of  the  king." 

In  summing  up  this  brief  history  of  the  part 
taken  by  Massachusetts  in  the  woman's  rights 
movement,  it  would  be  needless  to  add  that  the 
cause  is  steadily  advancing.  Never,  in  the  his- 
tory of  civilization,  has  woman  held  the  political, 
legal  or  social  position  that  she  does  in  Massa- 
chusetts to-day!  New  avenues  of  employment 
for  her  capacity  are  constantly  being  opened, 
and  in  every  department  of  public  trust  to  which 
she  has  been  promoted,  she  has  shown  her 
ability.  In  this  first  hour  of  woman's  triumph,  it 
only  remains  for  her  to  keep  what  she  has  gained, 
and  use  faithfully  the  new  privileges  which  have 
come  into  her  life. 

Being  a  woman,  or  because  she  is  a  woman,  is  no 
longer  any  reason  why  she  cannot  do  the  thing  for 


172  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

which  she  is  best  fitted.  There  should  be  no 
shrinking,  from  timidity  or  Idve  of  ease,  when 
she  is  called  upon  to  fill  a  public  position,  or  to 
express  her  opinions  by  ballot  at  the  polls. 
Home  duties,  ever  sacred  and  nearest  the  true 
woman's  heart,  will  be  better  and  more  wisely 
performed,  if  assisted  by  the  knowledge  and 
experience  which  contact  with  life  and  public 
affairs  cannot  fail  to  give.  The  fact  is  already 
patent  that  it  is  not  so  much  "more  life  and 
fuller"  that  we  want,  for  women,  but  that  more 
women  are  needed  for  the  wider  life  and  the 
responsible  positions  waiting  for  them. 

Trained  leaders  are  needed  —  women  strong  of 
purpose,  who  are  willing  to  confront  the  public  as 
presiding  officers,  or  as  public  speakers,  and  to 
guide  wisely  the  large  masses  of  their  sex  who 
have  not  yet  learned  to  think  for  themselves. 
They  have  too  long  been  led  in  flocks,  like  sheep; 
the  time  has  come  for  better  leadership. 

More  educated  women  doctors  are  needed ; 
more  lawyers,  preachers,  professors  and  teachers 
in  the  higher  grades  of  schools  and  in  laborato- 
ries.    More  women  are  called  for  who  will  be 


TVOMAJV  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       173 

willing  to  sacrifice  their  time  and  their  domestic 
ease  and  serve  without  compensation  on  School 
Committee  boards.  It  is  a  noted  fact  that,  espe- 
cially in  the  towns  of  the  State,  there  cannot  be 
found  enough  educated  women  who  are  willing 
to  have  their  names  used  as  candidates  for  this 
office. 

More  plucky  women  who  understand  the  law 
and  know  how  to  use  the  newly-acquired  "inal- 
ienable right  of  all  American  citizens,"  are 
needed  to  go  to  the  assessor's  office,  to  the  cau- 
cus, and  to  the  polls.  More  women  are  needed 
in  the  "fourth  estate," — not  only  as  novelists, 
story-tellers,  or  journalists,  but  also  as  writers  on 
ethical,  moral  and  social  questions,  as  dramatists, 
and  as  the  biographers  of  their  own  sex.  His- 
torians are  needed,  who  shall  give  the  record  of 
nations  and  events  from  the  woman's  standpoint, 
and  include  in  the  story  of  a  people  that  which 
is  often  ignored, — the  part  taken  by  their  sex  in 
the  occurrences  of  the  times.  Historians  also 
are  needed  who  will  expose  to  public  execration 
the  woman  side  in  the  horrors  of  war,  and  who 
will  give  to  future  generations  a  fairer  estimate 


174  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

of  the  character  of  the  sex  of  which  God  has 
made  one-half  the  human  race,  than  has  come 
down  to  us  through  the  Hindoo,  the  Greek,  the 
Roman,  and  sometimes  the  Christian  literature. 

To  sum  up  the  progress  of  the  woman  move- 
ment in  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world,  it  is  well 
to  begin  with  the  record  of  its  advance  in  our  own 
country.  Massachusetts  is  by  no  means  ahead  in 
the  march  of  this  great  reform.  Other  states  in 
the  Union  have  more  than  kept  pace  with  her, 
and  many  of  them  have  made  laws  to  improve 
the  legal  and  social  cendition  of  woman.  School 
Suffrage  laws  have  been  enacted  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, Vermont,*  Connecticut,  New  York,  Colo- 
rado, Nebraska,  Minnesota,  Oregon,  Kansas, 
Michigan  and  Arizona  Territory. 

Constitutional  amendments  giving  women  the 
right  of  suffrage,  have  just  been  passed  by  the 
Legislatures  of  Oregon,  Nebraska  and   Indiana. 


*  By  a  law  passed  Dec.  i8th,  1880,  the  women  of  Ver- 
mont are  eligible  for  the  office  of  superintendent  of  schools, 
and  of  town  or  city  clerk.  In  March,  18S1,  Miss  Electa  F. 
Smith  was  chosen  city  clerk  in  Vergennes,  Vermont,  and 
a  great  many  of  the  towns  elected  women  for  school  super* 
intendents. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       1 75 

These  proposed  amendments  cannot  become  a 
part  of  the  constitution  until  they  are  submitted 
to  the  men  voters  of  the  State  for  their  ratifica- 
tion. In  Nebraska  the  Suffragists  are  very  active, 
and  in  order  to  enlighten  the  men  who  will  be 
called  upon  to  vote  upon  the  matter  in  1883,  they 
have  started  a  Western  Woman's  journal,  whose 
motto  is,  "  An  aristocracy  of  sex  is  repugnant  to 
a  republic."*  From  a  statement  in  the  columns 
of  this  paper,  it  appears  that  seventy-four  out  of 
the  eighty-eight  established  newspapers  in  Ne- 
braska are  in  favor  of  the  proposed  amendment 
In  Indiana,  a  bill  securing  presidential  suffrage 
to  women  came  within  a  few  votes  of  passing  the 
House  of  Representatives.  In  the  same  progres- 
sive and  wide-awake  State  women  hold  many 
prominent  positions.  Mrs.  Emma  A.  Winsom 
has  just  been  elected  State  librarian.  In  Iowa 
a  woman  has  held  this  office  since  1870.  The 
present  incumbent  is  Mrs.  S.  B.  Maxwell.  In 
other  states  where    the  suffrage  question  is  not 

*  Hon.  Erasmus  M.  Correll,  the  editor  of  this  paper, 
was  a  member  of  the  Nebraska  Legislature,  and  the  leader 
of  the  House  in  advocating  the  Woman  Suffrage  Amend- 
ment. 


176  MASSACHUSETTS  IN   THE 

SO  largely  agitated,  women  hold  State  offices. 
In  the  Legislature  of  Nevada  Miss  Kittrell  is 
copying  clerk,  and  like  a  man,  she  took  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  support  the  constitution,  and  not 
bear  arms  against  the  State.  In  Tennessee,  Mary 
Grizzard  is  clerk  of  the  State  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. 

Maine  and  Minnesota  have  each  made  efforts 
to  amend  their  constitutions,  so  that  the  women 
can  exercise  the  full  right  of  suffrage.  California 
and  Pennsylvania  are  asking  for  presidential 
suffrage.  Rhode  Island,  always  active  in  the 
good  cause,  is  working  for  school  suffrage. 
Michigan  and  Iowa  are  working  steadily  for 
woman's  rights  as  a  citizen  of  their  own  go-ahead 
states.  In  the  Wisconsin  Legislature,  a  Woman 
Suffrage  amendment  to  the  State  constitution 
was,  by  a  very  close  vote,  recently  defeated. 
Missouri  has  just  begun  to  deliberate  on  the 
Woman  Suffrage  question.  Bright  little  Kansas, 
a  State  rooted  in  principle  and  always  on  the 
right  side,  is  asking  for  full  suffrage  for  its  women 
citizens.  In  this  State  husband  and  wife  have 
the  same  property  rights,  and  the  same  rights  in 


JVOA/AAT  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       1 77 

their  children.  Tliere  the  women  teachers  receive 
the  same  pay  as  the  men  for  equal  service. 
Illinois  allows  its  women  to  vote  in  municipal 
elections.  The  women  of  New  Jersey  are  strug- 
gling to  regain  their  lost  right  of  suffrage.  A 
bill  to  prohibit  the  disfranchisement  of  the 
women  of  the  state,  was  defeated  in  the  New 
York  Assem.bly  in  May,  1881,  by  just  six  votes. 
If  this  bill  had  passed,  the  women  of  New 
York  would  have  become  voters  on  the  same 
terms  with  men  at  all  elections. 

In  Wyoming  Territory  women  have  enjoyed 
all  the  political  rights,  privileges  and  responsibili- 
ties of  men  for  the  past  eleven  years,  and  they 
vote  as  regularly  at  the  elections.  The  verdict  of 
the  leading  newspaper  in  the  State,  on  woman's 
voting,  is  this  :  "  Not  a  solitary  instance  has  ever 
occurred  in  which  the  exercise  of  their  rights  has 
been  productive  of  any  evil  results.  *  *  There 
can't  be  found  a  man  in  Wyoming  to-day  who  is 
opposed  to,  or  dissatisfied  with  the  result  of 
Woman  Suffrage."  In  Utah  Territory  women 
vote  under  certain  conditions.  In  far  distant 
Omaha,  the  voices  of  the  women  send  this  mes- 
12 


178  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

sage  to  their  representatives :  "Tell  the  members 
of  the  Legislature  that  we  want  to  vote."  When 
the  Constitution  of  Texas  was  revised,  in  1876 
the  word  "male,"  either  by  accident  or  design, 
was  left  out  and  the  women  of  that  state  have  the 
right  to  vote  on  all  questions  relating  to  munici- 
pal or  state  government. 

Even  the  American  Indian,  as  early  as  1870, 
began  to  scent  the  trail  of  the  woman's  rights 
movement,  and  in  one  tribe — the  Otoe — many  of 
the  squaws  refused  to  do  all  the  work,  declar- 
ing that  they  would  not  cook  for  the  men  unless 
they  helped  them  do  some  of  the  work  around 
the  wigwams.  In  1880,  Bright  Eyes,  an  Indian 
maiden,  was  sent  to  Washington  by  one  of  the 
most  powerful  tribes  on  the  continent  —  the 
Poncas  —  to  represent  to  the  Government  the 
rights  and  the  wrongs  of  her  people.  Does  not 
the  world  move  ? 

The  echoes  of  the  1850  convention,  held  in 
Massachusetts  and  in  Ohio,  travelled  across  the 
ocean,  and  the  answer  came  back  from  England. 
Woman  Suffrage  or  Woman's  Rights  under  the 
law  had  never  been  heard  £>f  there  until  that  time, 


WOniAN-  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.        179 

though  the  ruler  of  the  kingdom  was  a  woman. 
To-day,  the  suffragists  of  England  are  busy,  and 
large  meetings  are  frequently  held  in  the  interest 
of  the  cause.  At  Bristol,  in  1880,  over  3000 
women  assembled  to  hear  arguments  presented, 
and  devise  means  to  further  the  reform.  A  me- 
morial was  prepared  which  stated  that  there  were 
over  500,000  rate  payers  in  the  United  Kingdom, 
who  were  deprived  of  the  power  of  voting  in  the 
election  for  Members  of  Parliament  because  they 
were  women,  and  they  prayed  "that  a  measure 
might  be  introduced  by  her  Majesty's  ministers 
to  extend  parliamentary  franchise  to  women  rate 
payers  and  land  owners  in  boroughs  and  coun- 
ties."~ 

A  great  Suffrage  meeting  was  held  in  Birming- 
ham in  February,  188 1,  which  was  attended  by 
over  4,000  persons.  A  w'oman  presided,  and 
women  speakers  alone  addressed  the  vast  audi- 
ence. The  chief  subject  of  discussion  was  the 
recognition  by  government  of  woman's  claims  to 
the  parliamentary  franchise.  In  England,  women 
rate  payers  have  the  right  to  vote  in  all  local 
elections  of  poor-law  guardians,  church-wardens, 


l8o  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

overseers,  auditors  and  other  local  officials.  In 
1881,  ten  women  were  elected  poor-law  guardians. 
Among  them  were  the  Dowager  Marchioness  of 
Lothian  and  Miss  Florence  Davenport  Hill. 

On  th-e  London  school  board,  nine  women  serve 
as  members  and  two  as  salaried  officers ;  and  by  a 
vote  of  the  Board,  in  188 1,  women  are  eligible 
to  the  office  of  school  inspector.  In  many  parts 
of  England,  property -holding  women  can  vote 
under  certain  restrictions.  The  Married  Woman's 
Property  Bill,  presented  to  Parliament  in  March 
1 88 1,  provides  for  a  thorough  change  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  women  of  England  as  regards 
property  rights.  Under  its  provisions  woman  is 
treated  as  a  reasonable  being,  and  not  as  an 
infant  incapable  of  making  a  bargain,  or  fulfilling 
a  contract  save  through  her  husband's  sanction. 
When  this  bill  becomes  a  law,  the  legal  subjec- 
tion of  English  women  will  be  at  an  end,  so  far 
as  money  matters  go. 

The  London  Athenceum,  in  a  recent  number, 
stated  that  a  memorial  was  being  prepared  by  an 
influential  committee  of  the  non-resident  mem- 
bers of  the  Senate  of  the  Cambridge  University, 


PVOMAAT  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       l8l 

in  favor  of  granting  the  degree  of  A.  B.  to  women. 
Among  the  signers  were  Earl  Spencer,  Canon 
Barry  and  J.  E.  Gorst,  M.  P.  What  will  the 
American  Cambridge  University  (known  as  Har- 
vard) say,  if  this  great  conservative  English 
College  gets  the  start  of  it,  and  is  the  first  to 
confer  upon  woman  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Arts? 

Since  the  first  chapters  of  this  book  went  to 
press,  the  great  news  has  come  from  England 
that  Cambridge  University  has  opened  her  gates, 
broadly,  freely  and  without  barriers  of  any  kind, 
to  all  women  who  desire  to  become  co-students 
with  men.  In  March  1881,  the  senate  of  Cam- 
bridge University  by  a  large  vote  (398  to  32) 
decided  to  admit  women  students  of  Girton  and 
Newnham  to  be  formally  examined  and  classified 
among  the  candidates  for  honors.  Residence  is 
allowed  to  such  students  in  two  of  the  college 
buildings,  or  within  the  precincts  of  the  Univer- 
sity. This  is  a  great  event  in  the  history  of  the 
struggle  for  equal  educational  privileges  for 
women  and  men. 

Scotland   is   active    in    the   Woman    Suffrage 


l82  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

movement.  It  has  a  National  Society,  and  its 
annual  meeting  held  recently  at  Edinburgh  was 
presided  over  by  Mrs.  Duncan  M'Laren. 

In  the  Isle  of  Man  a  bill  with  certain  property" 
qualifications,  giving  Suffrage  to  women,  passed 
the  House  of  Keys;  and  January  5,  188 1,  Queen 
Victoria  in  council  gave  her  royal  assent,  thus 
establishing  the  principle  of  Woman  Suffrage  in 
parliamentary  government  within  the  British 
Islands.  The  act  at  once  came  into  force  and 
was  formally  promulgated  on  Tynvvald  Hill,*  Isle 
of  Man.  The  House  of  Commons  is  more  than 
likely  to  follow  the  good  example  of  the  House 
of  Keys,  since  the  Queen  has  declared  her  recog- 
nition of  the  rights  of  her  women  subjects.f 

The  echoes  of  the  American  Conventions 
travelled  far  beyond  the  mother  country,  and 
have  since  reverberated  from  all  parts  of  the 
civilized  world.     In  France  the   Suffrage  Move- 

*  "  Once  on  the  top  of  Tynvvald's  formal  mound 
(Still  marked  with  green  turf  circles  narrowing 
Stage  above  stage)  would  sit  this  Island's  King, 
The  laws  to  promulgate,  enrobed  and  crowned." 

Wordsworth. 

t  See  Appendix  N. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       183 

ment  is  steadily  advancing,  and  the  cry  of 
"Liberty,  Equality  and  Fraternity"  begins  to 
have  a  real  meaning  to  the  women  citizens  of 
that  fair  country.  The  first  International,  Wom- 
an's Rights  Congress  was  held  in  Paris,  in 
August,  1878,  during  the  Great  Exposition.  It 
lasted  more  than  two  weeks,  and  closed  with  an 
elegant  banquet,  in  which  distinguished  men  and 
women  from  all  parts  of  the  world  participated. 
There  were  two  Presidents  of  the  Congress :  M. 
Henri  Martin,  and  Julia  Ward  Howe, — "  Meeses 
Ouardow,"  as  the  French  president  called  that 
lady  when  he  introduced  her  to  the  vast  audience. 
Delegates  to  this  Congress  were  present  from 
many  different  countries,  and  several  Italian 
ladies  took  active  part  in  the  deliberations. 
America  was  represented  by  Julia  Ward  Howe, 
T.  Wentworth  Higginson,  Theodore  Stanton, 
(son  of  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton),  and  perhaps 
others. 

The  subjects  discussed  at  the  different  sessions 
were  : 

ist.  Historical,  or  woman's  condition  as  pre- 
sented by  history. 


MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 


2d.  Educational,  and  all  hygienic  questions 
touching  women  and  children. 

3d.  Woman's  Work  and  Wages. 

4th.  Woman's  Position  before  the  Law. 

In  the  1 6th  century,  when  Frangoise  De  Sain- 
tonges  made  an  attempt  to  found  schools  for  the 
girls  of  France,  she  was  hooted  in  the  streets; 
and  her  father  thought  she  must  be  possessed  of 
demons,  to  think  of  such  a  thing  as  educating 
women.  To-day,  France  has  established  interme- 
diate schools,  and  Henri  Martin,  the  historian,  is 
projecting  a  series  of  colleges  all  over  the  country, 
for  the  higher  education  of  French  girls. 

The  Sorbonne  long  ago  opened  its  lecture 
rooms  to  classes  composed  entirely  of  young  girls 
under  twenty  years  of  age.  The  Sorbonne,  or 
university  of  Paris,  is  the  greatest  literary  insti- 
tution in  France.  As  early  as  1878,  it  conferred 
the  degree  of  A.  B.  upon  women  students.  A 
French  lady,  Hubertine  Auclert,  an  advocate 
of  woman  suffrage,  lately  refused  to  pay  taxes, 
urging  that  as  women  are  not  allowed  to  vote,  it 
was  unjust  that  they  should  be  taxed.  Her  furni- 
ture was  seized,  and  the  majesty  of  the  law  was 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.        185 

sustained  against  her  vain  protests.  Her  story  is 
admirably  told  in  Alexander  Dumas'  "  Les 
Femmes  qui  Tuent,  et  Les  Femmes  qui  Votent." 
(The  Women  who  Kill,  and  The  Women  who 
Vote.)  M.  Dumas  strongly  favors  suffrage  for  the 
women  of  France.  He  says :  "  At  first  it  will  make 
a  sensation,  then  it  will  become  fashionable,  after 
that  a  habit,  then  an  experience,  then  a  duty,  and 
at  last  a  blessing." 

In  February  1881,  a  great  Convention  was 
held  at  the  Sala  Dante  in  Rome,  to  agitate  the 
question  of  Universal  Suffrage.  At  this  conven- 
tion the  claims  of  women  were  earnestly  presented. 
Two  women  only  —  Elena  Burelli  and  Signora 
Anna  Maria  Mozzoni  —  had  seats  as  delegates. 
After  some  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  conven- 
tion, resolutions  were  passed  asserting  the  right 
of  all  Italian  men  and  women  to  become  voters. 
The  passage  of  the  resolution  in  which  women 
were  included,  was  due  in  great  part  to  the  per- 
sistent eloquence  of  Signora  Mozzoni. 

In  Sweden,  the  old  university  towm  of  Upsala, 
in  1859,  granted  the  right  of  Suffrage  to  fifty 
women  owning  real  estate,  and  to  thirty-one  doing 


1 86  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

business  on  their  own  account.  This  was  secured 
through  the  influence  of  Frederika  Bremer,  who 
was  not  ashamed  to  shed  happy  tears  when  the 
news  reached  her.  Through  her  influence,  women 
students  had  already  been  admitted  to  the 
Musical  Acaderny  and  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts, 
at  Stockholm.* 

In  St.  Petersburg,  Russia,  at  the  first  election 
for  a  municipal  council,  in  1881,  all  property- 
owning  women  were  allowed  to  vote. 

Spain,  almost  the  last  country  from  which  one 
might  expect  to  hear  good  news  on  the  woman 
question,  has  just  admitted  women  to  lectures 
and  degrees  in  her  colleges.  This  was  accom- 
plished in  spite  of  vigorous  opposition  on  the  part 
of  members  of  the  Superior  Council  of  Education. 
Many  women  students  won  prizes  and  honors 
during  1880  in  some  of  the  Spanish  universities. 

Municipal  suffrage  is  exercised  by  the  women 
of  Cape  Colony,  in  Africa.  New  Zealand  and 
Australia,  have  each  made  efforts  to  secure  politi- 
cal   rights    and  a  higher  education   for   women. 

*  See  "The  College,  the  Market  and  the  Court."     By 
CaroHne  H.  Dall.     Boston,  Lee  and  Shcpard. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  MOVEMENT.       1S7 

In  India  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  abolish 
the  Zenana  system,  and  in  both  these  countries 
the  women  themselves  are  struggling  to  be 
released  from  their  degrading  condition  of  ser- 
vitude. Round  the  world  from  far  Bombay- 
comes  a  letter,  in  March,  188 1,  in  which  the 
writer  says  :  "  Bombay  allows  its  women  to  vote 
on  the  same  terms  with  its  men,  in  the  regulation 
and  control  of  its  municipal  affairs."  As  early  as 
1870,  said  Lydiai  Maria  Child,  the  suffrage  move- 
ment was  felt  in  Asia,  some  action  being  taken 
there  to  free  the  women  from  the  iron  rule  of 
their  Mussulman  husbands.  From  far-away 
Japan,  not  long  ago  came  the  news  that  widow 
Kusanoe  Kita  had  refused  to  pay  her  taxes, 
because  she  considered  it  "  an  injustice  to  be 
required  to  pay  equal  taxes  with  other  heads 
of  families  when  equal  rights  were  not  granted." 
Even  in  the  harems  of  Turkey  the  women  are 
beginning  to  assemble  to  listen  to  speakers  from 
another  country,  who  have  brought  to  them  a 
doctrine  not  found  in  the  religion  of  Mahomet, — 
the  doctrine  that  they  have  souls,  the  same  as 
their  masters,  and  that  the  time  has  come  for  their 
deliverance  from  moral  and  intellectual  slavery. 


1 88  MASSACHUSETTS  IN  THE 

The  most  hopeful  sign  of  the  continued  success 
of  this  great  reform,  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
women  themselves,  of  all  nations,  are  getting 
ready  to  work  for  their  own  emancipation  from  the 
bondage  of  centuries.  The  women  are  "up  in 
America,  and  they  are  already  past  their  first 
sleep  in  Persia."  For  them  the  hour  has  indeed 
struck,  the  morning  light  has  dawned,  and  they 
are  forever  awakened  to  freedom  and  to  indepen- 
dence. 


APPENDIX. 


A. 

"OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  RIGHTS  OF  WOMEN." 

BY   HANNAH   MATHER   CROCKER.       1818. 

This  little  book  is  worthy  of  mention,  from  the  fact  that 
it  is  probably  the  first  publication  of  its  kind  in  Massachu- 
setts, if  not  in  America.  The  whole  title  of  the  book  is, 
"  Observations  on  the  Rights  of  Women,  with  their  appro- 
priate duties  agreeable  to  Scripture,  reason  and  common 
sense."  Mrs.  Crocker,  in  her  introduction,  says — "  The  wise 
author  of  Nature  has  endowed  the  female  mind  with  equal 
powers  and  faculties,  and  given  them  the  same  right  of 
judging  and  acting  for  themselves  as  he  gave  the  male  sex." 
She  further  argues  that,  "  According  to  Scripture,  woman 
was  the  first  to  transgress  and  thus  forfeited  her  original 
right  of  equality,  and  for  a  time  was  under  the  yoke  of 
bondage,  till  the  birth  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  when  she  was 
restored  to  her  equality  with  man." 

This  is  a  very  fine  beginning,  and  would  seem  to  savor 
strongly  of  the  modern  woman's  rights  doctrine ;  but,  un- 
fortunately, the  author,  with  charming  inconsistency,  goes 
on  to  say, — "  We  shall  strictly  adhere  to  the  principle  of 
the  impropriety  of  females  ever  trespassing  on  masculine 
grounds:  as  it  is  morally  incorrect,  and  physically  im- 
proper." In  the  book  itself,  the  author  cites  with  admira- 
tion many  illustrious  women  who  have  "trespassed  on 
masculine  ground."  Among  them  are  Zenobia,  Jane  of 
Flanders,  Elizabeth  of   England,  and   Oberach,   queen  of 


I  go  APPENDIX. 

Otaheite.  The  last  named  carried  a  sea  captain  (according 
to  his  own  account)  "  over  a  marsh  with  as  much  ease  as 
he  could  a  little  child."  In  speaking  of  Mary  Wollstone- 
craft,  Mrs.  Crocker  says,  that  while  that  celebrated  woman 
had  a  very  independent  mind,  and  her  *'  Rights  of 
Woman "  is  replete  with  fine  sentiments,  yet,  she  contin- 
ues, patronizingly,  "  we  do  not  coincide  with  her  respecting 
the  total  independence  of  the  sex."  Mrs.  Crocker  evidently 
wanted  her  sex  to  be. not  too  independent,  but  just  inde- 
pendent enough. 


B. 

THE  WORLD'S  ANTI-SLAVERY  CONVENTION. 

When  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society  was  formed, 
in  1833,  some  of  the  women  present  at  the  meeting  made 
speeches,  and  the  convention  passed  a  vote  of  thanks  to 
women  for  their  zeal  and  interest  in  the  cause.  This 
society  always  encouraged  women  to  speak  against  slavery, 
and  it  did  not  disapprove  of  their  serving  as  officers  of 
town  or  county  societies. 

In  1835,  the  society  wished  to  delegate  Mrs.  Lydia  Maria 
Child  to  visit  England  in  the  interests  of  the  Anti-Slavery 
cause,  and  in  1837  it  endeavored  to  secure  her  services  as 
travelling  lecture  agent.  The  same  year  it  offered  the 
Misses  Grimke  a  commission  to  enter  the  field  as  lecturers 
upon  the  evils  of  slavery.  Previous  to  1838,  Abby  Kelley 
had  been  speaking  on  the  platform  of  women's  Anti-Slavery 
meetings,  but  in  that  year  as  agent  of  -the  American  Anti- 
Slavery  Society,  she  came  before  public  audiences  com- 
posed of  both  men  and  women. 

At  the  sixth  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Anti- 
Slavery  Society,  in  May,  1839,  an  attempt  was  made  for 
the  first  time  to  exclude  women  from  active  membership. 


APPENDIX.  191 

A  motion  was  made  by  a  clergyman  that  none  but  men 
should  have  their  names  placed  upon  the  roll ;  but  this 
motion  was  rejected  by  an  overwhelming  majority.  The 
same  year  it  chanced  *  that  a  woman  was  put  on  a  com- 
mittee to  "examine  and  report"  on  the  publication  of  the 
annual  report.  This  caused  a  great  commotion  among  the 
men  members;  but  there  was  no  open  revolt  until  1840, 
when,  for  the  first  time,  a  woman  was  elected  on  the  busi- 
ness committee  of  the  society.  In  consequence  of  this 
action,  a  minority  of  the  members  withdrew  and  formed 
another  anti-slavery  society.  This  division  afterwards 
extended  through  many  of  the  State  and  local  Anti-Slavery 
organizations. 

The  World's  Anti-Slavery  Convention  was  first  projected 
by  the  English  abolitionists.  When  the  American  Anti- 
Slavery  Society  was  invited  to  send  delegates,  it  responded 
by  adopting  the  following  resolutions,  offered  by  David 
Lee  Child,  at  its  annual  meeting  held  in  New  York,  May 
1 2th,  1840: 

*'■  Resolved :  That  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society 
regards  with  heartfelt  interest  the  design  of  the  '  World's 
Convention '  about  to  assemble  in  London,  and  anticipates 
from  its  labors  a  powerful  and  blessed  in-fluence  upon  the 
condition  and  prospects  of  the  victims  of  Slavery  and 
prejudice,  wherever  they  are  found. 

"Resolved:  That  our  beloved  friends,  William  Lloyd 
Garrison,  Nathaniel  Peabody  Rogers,  Charles  Lenox 
Remond,  and  Lucretia  Mott,  be  and  they  hereby  are 
appointed  delegates,  to  represent  this  Society  in  the  said 
Convention,  and  we  heartily  commend  them  to  the  confi- 
dence and  love  of  the  universal  abolition  fraternity. 

"Resolved:  That  the  Anti-Slavery  enterprise  is  the 
cause  of  universal  humanity,  and  as  such,  legitimately  calls 
together  the  world's  convention, —  and  that  this  Society 

♦  "  It  chanced  (Almighty  God  that  chance  did  guide)." 

[Spenser's  Faerie  Queene.l 


192  APPENDIX. 

trusts  that  that  Convention  will  fully  and  practically 
recognize,  in  its  organization  and  movements,  the  equal. 
BROTHERHOOD  of  the  entire  human  family,  without 
distinction  of  color,  sex,  or  clime." 

The  delegates  from  other  anti-slavery  societies  in  the 
United  States,  were  George  Bradburn,  Wendell  Phillips, 
Ann  Greene  Phillips,  Henry  B.  Stanton,  Elizabeth  Cady 
Stanton,  Professor  William  Adams,  Rev.  Henry  Colver, 
Rev.  Nathaniel  Greene,  Rev.  Eben  Galusha,  James  Mott, 
James  G.  Birney,  C.  Edwards  Lester,  Sarah  Pugh,  Mary 
Grew,  Elizabeth  T.  Neale,  (now  Mrs.  Sidney  Howard  Gay), 
Emily  Winslow  Taylor,  Col.  J.  P.  Miller,  Isaac  Winslow, 
Abby  Kimber,  Abby  Southwick,  Rev.  Henry  Grew,  and 
perhaps  others. 

Seven  of  these  delegates  had  arrived  early,  and  on 
finding  that  the  women  of  their  number  were  not  to  be 
admitted  to  their  seats  in  the  Convention,  they  framed  a 
protest  against  such  exclusion.  These  were  Professor 
William  Adams,  James  Mott,  C.  E.  Lester,  Isaac  Winslow, 
Wendell  Phillips,  Jonathan  P.  Miller,  and  George  Bradburn. 
Mr.  Garrison,  in  his  report  read  at  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  Massachusetts  Anti-Slavery  Society,  in  January,  1841, 
gave  a  brief  account  of  this  "  conference,"  as  he  called  it ; 
for,  true  to  his  principles  on  the  question  of  the  equality  of 
human  rights,  he  would  not  call  a  meeting  in  which  women 
had  no  recognized  part,  a  **  World's  Convention."  He 
said: 

"  Though  such  a  Convention  was  called,  no  such  Conven- 
tion was  held.  The  Committee  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Anti-Slavery  Society  declared  the  meeting  to  be  a  mere 
'Conference'  with  themselves,  and  in  fact  prescribed  its 
rules  and  regulations,  etc.,  etc.  *  *  *  The  American, 
Massachusetts  and  Pennsylvania  Societies  chose  as  their 
representatives,  among  others,  certain  women  of  great 
moral  worth,  intelligence  and  philanthropy;  but  these  were 


APPENDIX.  193 

scornfully  shut  out  from  the  Convention  on  account  of  their 
sex  I  *  *  *  Their  right  was  eloquently  sustained  by 
Wendell  Phillips,  Prof.  Adams,  George  Bradburn,  Dr. 
Bowring,  Col.  Miller,  Mr.  Ashurst,  and  others.     *    *    * 

"  Messrs.  Garrison,  Rogers,  Remond  and  Adams,  dele- 
gates to  the  convention,  did  not  arrive  in  season  to  partici- 
pate in  the  discussion.  On  ascertaining,  however,  what 
that  body  had  done,  they  very  properly  refused  to  become 
members  of  it,  and  accordingly  took  their  seats  in  the 
gallery." 

Dr.  John  Bowring  and  William  H.  Ashurst  were  English 
abolitionists.  Some  of  the  English  abolitionists  did  not 
take  Mr.  Garrison's  view  of  the  equality  of  human  rights, 
and  one  of  them  gave  to  the  world  his  private  opinion  of 
this  "woman  intruding  delusion,"  of  which  the  following  is 
an  extract : 

CAFfAIN    CHARLES   STUART'S    PRIVATE   CIRCULAR. 

**  In  December,  1833,  ^"  Anti-Slavery  Society  was  formed 
in  the  United  States  of  North  America.  The  demand  for 
it  was  extreme,  for  the  Slave  system  of  the  United  States 
was  the  most  desperately  corrupt  and  ferocious  which 
existed.  The  principles  and  objects  of  the  Anti-Slavery 
Society  thus  formed  were  eminently  excellent,  and  the 
means  which  it  adopted  for  the  attainment  of  its  glorious 
object  were  perfectly  in  keeping,  for  the  first  four  yearsy 
with  its  noble  principles. 

"  But,  in  the  course  of  1837,  new  opinions  began  to  be 
broached,  and  one  of  these  gradually  assumed  the  position 
that  '  whatever  is  morally  right  for  a  ma?t  to  do,  is  morally 
right  for  a  woman  to  do,'  and,  therefore,  women  ought  to 
be  intruded  as  delegates,  debaters  and  managers,  into 
mixed  societies  of  men  and  women.  This  insane  innova- 
tion, at  first,  had  so  dubious  a  form,  that  its  real  character 
scarcely  appeared ;  but  as  soon  as  this  became  evident, 
it    was    vigorously    resisted.      Resistance,    however,    only 

13 


194  APPENDIX. 

aggravated  the  zeal  of  its  advocates,  and  the  neru  iruthy 
as  they  call  it,  quickly  assumed  such  importance  in  their 
eyes  and  was  so  offensively  intruded  by  them  into  all  the 
proceedings  of  the  Society,  that  they  who  conscientiously 
resisted  it  had  no  alternative  but  to  submit  to  it  or  to 
separate  themselves.  I  was  one  of  the  many  who  pre- 
ferred the  latter  alternative  without  hesitation.  The 
separation  took  place  early  in  1840;  that  of  the  leading 
Society  in  New  York  in  May,  1840.  At  the  division  on 
the  question,  the  Innovators  were  found  the  most  numer- 
ous, and  of  course,  the  original  name  of  ''Tht  American 
Anti-Slavery  Society  '  remained  with  them.  But  they  who 
rejected  the  innovation,  having  fewer  votes  present,  took 
a  new  name, — '  The  American  and  Foreign  Anti-Slavery 
Society.' 

******* 
"  Under  these  circumstances,  the  American — or  woman- 
intruding —  Anti-Slavery  Society  sends  Agents  to  this 
country,  Messrs  Collins  and  Remond,  to  beg  our  money. 
But  let  us  remember  that,  whatever  countenance  we  give 
to  these  gentlemen,  or  this  agency,  will  go  more  directly  to 
strengthen  a  pernicious  party  in  the  United  States  than  to 
aid  the  general  cause  of  Abolition.  The  errors  of  the 
advocates  of  justice  are  often  more  ruinous  to  righteous- 
ness than  all  the  hostility  of  open  enemies.  By  such  aid 
Britain  would  be  identified,  as  far  as  it  goes,  with  the 
rhapsodists  of  the  United  States;  and  the  sacred  and 
powerful  influence  exercised  so  nobly  and  so  beneficially  by 
the  late  London  Convention,  in  decidedly  and  at  once 
rejecting  the  woman-intruding  delusion,  would  be  paralyzed 
or  lost, — liberty  would  be  wounded  anew  by  the  blunders 
of  her  friends, — while  they  who  love  her  more  sanely,  and 
who  plead  her  cause  unentangled  with  the  snare,  would  be 
enfeebled  by  the  encouragement  given  to  the  dogmatism 
and  delusions  of  their  adversaries." 

The  "  rhapsodists  of  the  United  States,"  came  after  this 


APPENDIX.  195 

to  be  called  Garrisonians.  The  issue  between  the  Foreign 
and  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society  was  substantially 
the  same  as  that  between  the  Garrisonians  and  the  anti- 
Garrisonians, — it  was  the  "woman-intruding  element."  In 
the  beginning  it  was  like  a  cloud,  no  bigger  than  a  man's 
hand  ;  but  it  soon  began  to  grow,  and  in  a  few  years  it  had 
spread  so  that  even  the  most  short-sighted  of  weather 
prophets  could  see  that  a  great  change  was  about  to  take 
place  in  the  political  and  social  atmosphere  of  the  time. 


c. 

THE  LOWELL  OFFERING  AND  ITS  WRITERS. 

The  Lowell  Offering  was  first  published  in  1840,  by  Abel 
C.  Thomas,  pastor  of  a  Universalist  Church  in  Lowell 
Massachusetts.  In  the  second  number  of  the  magazine  is 
an  account  of  a  social  meeting  of  the  young  people  of  his 
parish,  called  the  Improvement  Circle.  The  members  of 
this  Circle,  most  of  them  operatives  in  the  Lowell  mills, 
were  required  to  furnish  original  contributions  to  be  read 
at  the  meetings.  These  were  in  prose  and  in  verse,  and 
were  so  well  written  and  accumulated  so  fast,  that  Mr. 
Thomas,  into  whose  hands  they  were  entrusted,  conceived 
the  idea  of  publishing  them.  To  this  gentleman  must  be 
given  the  credit  of  bringing  before  the  public  these  pro- 
ductions ;  and  too  much  honor  cannot  be  awarded  to  him 
for  believing  in  the  capabilities  of  the  young  people  under 
his  charge,  and  for  utilizing  the  talent  which  he  found. 
Mr.  Thomas,  who  has  recently  died,  little  thought,  per- 
haps, what  would  be  the  result  of  his  efforts  to  encourage 
the  young  people  of  his  church  and  community  to  express 
their  thoughts  on  paper.  But  for  his  Improvement  Circle, 
the  Lowell  Offering  might  never  have  been  heard    of,    and 


196  APPENDIX. 

its  writers,  if  this  impetus  had  not  been  given  to  their  talents, 
would  never  have  thought  themselves  capable  of  any  suc- 
cess in  this  direction.  To  improve  and  cultivate  the  mind 
was  the  great  injunction  urged  by  this  good  man,  upon  the 
young  men  and  women  of  his  time. 

Mr.  Thomas  conducted  the  Offe7'iiig  for  two  years.  Then 
he  left  Lowell  for  another  parish,  and  it  passed  into  the 
hands  of  Miss  Harriet  Farley  and  Miss  Harriot  F.  Curtis, 
both  operatives  in  the  Lowell  mills.  Under  their  joint 
editorship  the  magazine,  which  never  paid  expenses,  lasted 
till  1849,  when  it  was  discontinued,  for  want  of  means,  and 
perhaps  "  new  contributors."  The  Offering  was  -a  small, 
thin  magazine,  with  one  column  to  the  page.  On  the  out- 
side cover,  in  1845,  it  had  for  a  vignette  a  young  girl,  sim- 
ply dressed,  with  feet  visible  and  sleeves  rolled  up.  She 
had  a  book  in  one  hand  and  her  shawl  and  bonnet  were 
thrown  over  her  arm.  She  was  represented  as  standing  in 
a  very  sentimental  attitude,  contemplating  a  bee-hive  on 
her  right  hand.  In  the  background,  as  if  to  shut  them 
from  her  thoughts,  was  a  row  of  factories.    The  motto  was  : 

"The  worm  on  the  earth 
May  look  up  to  the  star." 

This  was  rather  an  abject  motto  and  one  not  suited  to 
the  independent  spirit  of  most  of  the  contributors.  A 
better  one  was  soon  adopted,  from  Gray — the  verse  begin- 
ning: 

"  Full  many  a  gem  of  purest  ray  serene." 

It  finally  died  under  the  motto  : 

"  Is  Saul  also  among  the  prophets?  " 

When  Dickens  visited  this  country,  in  1842,  he  went  into 
the  Lowell  factories,  and  a  copy  of  the  Offering  was  pre- 
sented to  him.     He  speaks  of  it  as  follows : 

"They  have  got  up  among  themselves  a  periodical,  called 
the  Lowell  Offerings  whereof  I  brought  away  from  Lowell 
four  hundred  good  solid  pages,  which  I  have  read  from 


APPENDIX.  197 

beginning  to  end.  Of  the  merits  of  the  Lowell  Offerings 
as  a  literary  production,  I  will  only  observe — putting  out 
of  sight  the  fact  of  the  articles  having  been  written  by 
these  girls  after  the  arduous  hours  of  the  day — that  it  will 
compare  advantageously  with  a  great  many  English  annu- 
als." Selections  from  the  Offeritig  were  printed  in  England, 
under  the  auspices  of  Harriet  Martineau,  who  was  very 
much  interested  in  the  publication.  The  volume  was 
called  "  Mind  among  the  Spindles." 

The  magazine  was  favorably  received  by  the  press  gener- 
ally. Even  the  North  American  Review,  whose  literary 
dictum  was  more  autocratic  than  it  is  to-day,  expressed  a 
fair  opinion  of  its  literary  merit.     It  said  : — 

"  Many  of  the  articles  are  such  as  to  satisfy  the  reader 
at  once,  that  if  he  has  only  taken  up  the  Offering  as  a 
phenomenon,  and  not  as  what  may  bear  criticism  and 
reward  perusal,  he  has  but  to  own  his  error,  and  dismiss 
his  condescension  as  soon  as  may  be."  This  good  opinion 
of  the  literary  merits  of  the  articles  was,  perhaps,  due  to 
the  fact,  that  at  this  era  of  American  magazine  literature, 
what  a  writer  had  to  say  was  of  much  more  importance  to 
the  critic  than  the  position  of  the  predicate  in  his  senten- 
ces, or  the  peculiar  style  of  English  in  which  they  might 
happen  to  be  written.  The  fact  was  often  disputed  that  a 
"factory  girl"  could  write  for  or  edit  a  magazine, — since 
she  had  hitherto  been  considered  little  better  than  the  loom 
or  frame  she  tended.  Enquiries  on  the  subject  came  to 
the  editors  from  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  ques- 
tions like  the  following  were  often  put  to  them :  "  Do  the 
factory  girls  really  write  the  articles  published  in  the  Offer- 
ing?'' or,  "Do  you  print  th?m  just  as  they  are  sent.?"  or 
"  Do  you  revise  or  re-write  them  t "  In  the  preface  to  the 
first  volume,  the  editor  answered  these  questions.  He 
says:— "The  articles  are  all  written  by  factory  girls,  and 
we  do  not  revise  or  re-write  them.  We  have  taken  less 
liberty  with  them  than  editors  usually  take  —  with  other 
than  the  most  experienced  writers."     In  spite  of  this  asser- 


19^  APPENDIX. 

tion  the  charge  continued  to  be  made,  that  it  could  not  be 
possible  that  females  occupied  in  labor  so  low  as  factory 
life  could  be  capable  of  such  a  literary  undertaking.  One 
gentleman  went  so  far  as  to  offer  to  give  one  of  the  editors 
(Miss  Farley)  twelve  dollars,  if  she  could  point  out  to 
the  public  twelve  original  articles  in  the  three  last  issues 
of  the  magazine.  She  pointed  out  twelve  such  articles  in 
one  of  the  numbers  so  designated. 

As  an  excuse  for  any  of  the  literary  demerits  of  the 
magazine,  the  editor  said  to  the  critics, — "  In  estimating 
the  talent  of  the  writers  of  the  Offering,  the  fact  should  be 
remembered  that  they  are  actively  employed  in  the  mills 
for  more  than  twelve  hours  a  day;  and  critics  must  be 
sensible  that  a  day  of  constant  manual  labor  though  not 
excessive,  must  in  some  measure  unfit  the  individual  for 
full  mental  development.  The  productions  in  this  volume 
will  show  how  much  of  thought  and  aspiration  is  to  be  found 
among  a  class  of  people  of  whom  little  has  been  known." 
"William  Schouler  of  the  Lowell  Journal  published  the 
Offering  in  1845,  and  his  young  sub-editor  William  S.  Rob- 
inson wrote  favorable  notices  of  the  magazine,  and  when 
he  could  do  so,  without  letting  "the  editor  step  aside  to 
make  way  for  the  friend, "  sometimes  admitted  its  writers 
into  the  columns  of  that  leading  Whig  newspaper.  It  may 
be  added  here,  that  this  gentleman,  in  his  zeal  for  the 
writers  of  the  Lowell  Offering  w^ni  so  far  as  to  take  one  of 
the  least  known  among  them  as  his  companion  for  life. 

The  contributions  to  the  Offering  were  upon  a  great  vari- 
ety of  subjects.  Allegories,  conversations  on  Physiology, 
Astronomy,  and  other  scientific  subjects;  dissertations  on 
poetry ;  the  beauties  of  nature,  flowers,  etc. ;  didactic  pieces 
on  highly  moral  and  "  pious  "  subjects ;  translations  from 
French  and  Latin ;  poems ;  stories  of  factory  and  other 
life;  sketches  of  local  New  England  history, — and  some- 
times the  chapters  of  a  novel,  ran  through  its  pages. 
The  criticism  was  often  made,  that  the  operatives  wrote 
too  much  on  the  "  Beauties  of  Nature."     To  this,  one  of 


APPENDIX.  199 

the  contributors  ''Ella"  (probably  Harriet  Farley)  an- 
swered, and  gave  as  excuse  : — "  We  are  so  long  and  con- 
stantly shut  out  from  the  sweet  voices  of  the  natural  world; 
yet  its  influences  are  still  upon  our  captive  souls,  like  the 
impress  of  an  engraver  upon  the  rocks  which  support  a 
ruined  fountain.  The  moss  of  years,  and  the  lichens  fed 
by  an  impure  atmosphere,  may  veil  the  tracery;  but  it  is 
still  there,  and  has  given  its  impress  to  the  outward  con- 
formation of  the  over -spreading  mould."  The  author 
might  have  said  with  Emerson,  if  his  "World-soul"  had 
then  been  printed, 

"And  be  sure  the  all-loving  Nature 
Will  smile  in  a  factory." 

The  same  author  (in  1840)  wrote  an  article  on  "  Woman's 
Rights,"  in  which  were  so  many  familiar  arguments  in  favor 
of  the  equality  of  the  sexes,  that  it  might  have  been  the 
production  of  the  pen  of  Lucy  Stone  or  Elizabeth  Cady 
Stanton,  but  for  this  difference,  that,  though  the  writer  felt 
sure  of  her  ground,  she  was  too  timid  to  maintain  it  against 
the  world, — and  towards  the  end  throws  out  the  query, 
"whether  public  life  is,  after  all,  woman's  most  appropri- 
ate and  congenial  sphere } "  It  is  a  curious  coincidence, 
that  at  this  date  the  Anti-Slavery  party,  the  great  party  of 
freedom  and  equality,  was  at  the  point  of  division  on  this 
very  question. 

There  is  a  certain  flavor  in  all  the  Lowell  Offering  writ- 
ings, both  in  prose  and  verse,  which  reminds  one  of  the 
books  read  by  the  authors  and  the  models  they  followed  in 
their  compositions.  The  poetry  savors  of  Mrs.  Sigourney, 
Mrs.  Hemans,  Miss  Landon,  Mrs.  Barbauld,  Milton,  Pope, 
Cowper,  and  Hannah  More.  Byron's  sardonic  vein  is 
copied  by  one  or  two  of  the  most  independent  minds 
among  them.  It  must  be  remembered  that  this  was  before 
the  age  of  American  poetry,  and  that  the  laurels  of  Long- 
fellow, Lowell,  Whittier,  and  Holmes  had  yet  only  budded. 
When  the  poems  of  Longfellow  and  Whittier  came  out, 


200  APPENDIX. 

they  were  a  new  revelation  to  the  girl  of  the  factory  period. 
The  book  as  soon  as  received  was  lent  from  one  to  another 
all  over  the  neighborhood,  and  the  eager  reader  staid  all 
day  in  her  room  on  Sunday,  or  sat  up  all  night  to  read  the 
coveted  volume.  Many  of  them  learned  favorite  poems, 
and  repeated  them  to  others  less  fortunate  in  being  able  to 
borrow  the  book.  Some  of  these,  now  pretty  old  girls, 
still  repeat  to  their  children  the  well-remembered  lines. 

The  prose  models  .of  writing  were  "  The  Spectator," 
"Miss  Sedgwick's  Letters,"  "The  Vicar  of  Wakefield," 
"  The  Lady  of  the  Manor,"  Lydia  Maria  Child's  writings, 
"Stephens's  Travels  in  Yucatan,  Mexico,  etc.,"  and  Sunday- 
School  books.  Novels  and  dramatic  writings  were  tabooed, 
by  the  puritanical  spirit  which  controlled  the  daily  walk  of 
the  average  New  England  girl ;  even  Walter  Scott  and 
Shakespeare  were  under  the  ban  of  the  evangelical  churches 
at  this  time.  But  the  more  free-thinking  of  them,  who 
had  wandered  a  little  from  the  fold,  towards  the  Unitarian 
or  Universalist  churches,  took  from  the  circulating  library 
and  read  with  delight  such  novels  as  '•  Evelina,"  "  Alonzo 
and  Melissa,"  "The  Three  Spaniards,"  "Charlotte  Tem- 
ple," "  Eliza  Wharton,"  "  Maria  Monk,"  "  The  Children  of 
the  Abbey,"  "The  Arabian  Nights,"  and  "Abellino,  the 
Bravo  of  Venice."  They  also  read  the  novels  of  Walter 
Scott,  Captain  Marryatt,  Bulwer,  William  and  Mary 
Howitt,  Miss  Bremer,  and  (as  soon  as  he  appeared) 
Dickens.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  was  at  that  time  busy 
taking  care  of  her  children,  and  the  great  American  novel 
was  not  yet  born. 

The  factory  girls  were  also  omnivorous  readers  of  the 
daily  and  weekly  newspapers.  From  an  article  on  this 
phase  of  the  subject  in  the  Offermg — "Our  Household," 
I  am  able  to  quote  a  sketch  of  one  factory  boarding-house 
"interior."  The  author  said, — "In  our  house  there  are 
eleven  boarders,  and  thirteen  in  all  the  members  of  the 
family.  I  will  class  them  according  to  their  religious  tenets 
as  follows :   Calvinist,  Baptist,  Unitarian,  Congregational, 


APPENDIX.  201 

Catholic,  Episcopalian,  and  Mormonite,  one  each ;  Uni- 
versalist  and  Methodist,  two  each;  Christian  Baptist, 
three.  Their  reading  is  from  the  following  sources : — They 
receive  regularly  fifteen  newspapers  and  periodicals.  These 
are,  the  Boston  Daily  Times,  the  Herald  of  Freedom,  the 
Sig7is  of  the  Times  and  the  Christian  Herald,  two  copies 
each  ;  the  Christian  Register,  Vox  Populi,  Literary  Souvenir^ 
Boston  Pilot,  Young  Catholic'' s  Friend,  Star  of  Bethlehem, 
and  the  Lowell  Offering,  three  copies  each.  A  magazine 
[perhaps  the  Dial\  one  copy.  We  also  borrow  regularly 
the  N'on  Resistant,  the  Liberator,  the  Ladies''  Book,  the 
Ladies'  Pearl  and  the  Ladies'  Companion.  We  have  also 
in  the  house  what  perhaps  cannot  be  found  anywhere  else 
in  the  city  of  Lowell, — a  Mormon  Bible." 

The  names  of  the  Lowell  Offering  writers,  so  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  recall  them  are,  as  follows :  Harriot  F. 
Curtis  and  Harriet  Farley,  (the  editors  from  1842  to  1849), 
Harriet  Lees,  Lucy  Larcom  and  Emeline  Larcom,  (sisters) 
Lura,  Louisa  and  Maria  Currier,  (sisters),  Margaret  Foley, 
Lydia  S.  Hall,  Sarah  E.  Martin,  J.  L.  Baker,  Abba  God- 
dard,  Harriet  Jane  Hanson,  M.  Bryant,  Laura  Tay,  Jane  S. 
Welch,  Sarah  Shedd,  M.  R.  Green,  Mary  A.  Leonard, 
Ellen  M.  Smith,  M.  A.  Dodge,  Caroline  Whitney,  E.  W. 
Jennings,  Betsey  Chamberlain,  Eliza  J.  Cate,  A.  H.  Win- 
ship,  Hannah  Johnson,  Mrs.  Kimball,  Adeline  Bradley, 
L.  A.  Choate,  A.  E.  Wilson,  Sarah  Bagley,  Ann  Carter, 
J.  B.  Hamilton,  E.  E.  Turner,  Hannah  Johnson,  A.  D. 
Turner  and  Kate  Clapp.  Many  of  the  writers  signed  ficti- 
tious nan;es, — such  as  Ella,  Adelaide,  Dorcas,  Aramantha, 
Stella,  Kate,  Oriana,  Tone,  Annaline,  and  Ruth  Rover. 
Lucy  Larcom,  M.  Bryant,  Harriet  Farley,  Margaret  Foley 
and  Lydia  S.  Hall  were  the  poets  of  the  magazine.  Lucy 
Larcom  published  her  first  poem  in  the  Offer ijtg,  in  1842. 
It  was  called  "  The  River."  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  say 
that  Miss  Larcom  and  Miss  Foley  long  since  became  cele- 
brated :  one  as  a  poet,  and  the  other  as  a  sculptor  of  rare 
merit. 


202  APPENDIX. 

In  her  poem,  "  An  Idyl  of  Work,"  Miss  Larcom,  in  her 
most  graceful  and  popular  style  tells  the  story  of  her 
life  as  a  Lowell  factory  girl.  Harriot  F.  Curtis  was  a 
prolific  writer  for  newspapers  and  magazines  under  the 
pseudonyme  of  "  Minnie  Myrtle  "  (a  nom  de  phime  after- 
wards appropriated  by  a  Mrs.  Anna  C.  Johnson,  for 
which  see  Wheeler's  "  Dictionary  of  Noted  Names  of 
Fiction."  Miss  Curtis  published  a  book  called  "  S.  S. 
Philosophy,"  and  two  popular  novels, — "  Kate  in  Search  of 
a  Husband,"  and  "Jessie's  Flirtations."  This  last  still 
holds  its  original  place  in  the  advertising  list  of  Harper's 
Select  Library  of  Novels.  Harriet  Farley  wrote  and 
published  several  books.  Harriet  J.  Hanson  Robinson 
published  a  book  in  1877, — "  Warrington  Pen  Portraits." 
It  is  rumored  that  there  are  others  of  the  Offeriiig  writers 
who  have  published  books,  but  I  have  been  unable  so  far 
to  gather  any  reliable  information  on  the  subject. 

Not  many  of  the  lesser  lights  continued  to  write  after 
their  contributions  were  no  longer  in  demand  for  the  Ojfer- 
ing.  Many  of  the  writers  graduated  from  the  Lowell  fac- 
tories into  other  positions.  A  few  went  as  missionaries  to 
foreign  countries.  Some  became  teachers  in  Massachusetts 
and  in  other  states.  Here  and  there  one  became  a  minister, 
a  physician  or  an  artist.  Lydia  S.  Hall,  one  of  the  most 
self-reliant  among  them,  went  out  as  a  missionary  to  the 
Choctaws,  and  in  "  Border-Ruffian  "  days  lived  in  Kansas. 
She  afterwards  went  to  Washington  as  clerk  in  the  Treas- 
ury Department,  and  studied  law  at  the  same  time. 

Many  of  the  Lowell  factory  girls  made  good  "  matches ;" 
almost  as  good  as  if  they  had  not  worked  for  a  living.  They 
married  men  of  all  trades  and  professions,  some  of  whom 
afterwards  became  Major  Generals,  Doctors  of  Divinity,  and 
even  members  of  Congress.  These  women  as  a  rule  made 
good  wives  and  mothers,  and  they  were  not  above  doing 
their  own  housework  and  taking  care  of  their  children. 
Some  of  these  children  have  added  greatly  to  the  business 
and  mental  stamina  of  their  day  and  generation.     A  few  of 


APPENDIX.  203 

them,  in  education  and  true  culture,  have  attained  such 
excellence  that  they  are  worthy  to  be  ranked  with  the  chil- 
dren of  the  so-called  Brahmin  class  in  New  England 
Society.  The  self-reliance  taught  in  the  hard  school  of 
factory  life  developed  the  characters  of  the  mothers,  and 
like  good  blood,  told  in  the  children,  and  helped  to  equip 
them  to  fight  well  the  battle  of  life. 

In  1849,  the  time  foretold  by  one  of  the  early  writers  of 
^^  Lowell  Offering  had  come.  She  had  said, — "Should 
the  time  arrive  when  the  great  congregation  of  operatives 
will  cause  a  reduction  of  wages,  the  inducement  to  come 
here  will  be  withdrawn."  The  great  influx  of  the  foreign 
element  had  caused  this  reduction,  and  changed  entirely 
the  tone  of  Lowell  factory  society.  The  class  from  which 
the  Offering  writers  had  been  drawn,  came  no  more  to  the 
"city  of  spindles,"  and  the  magazine  became  a  thing  of 
the  past.  No  effort  was  ever  made  to  repeat  the  experi- 
ment, and  it  would  not  have  been  successful  if  it  had  been 
made:  since  the  class  of  operatives  now  employed  in  man- 
ufacturing towns  and  cities  is  so  largely  made  up  of  the 
foreign  element,  whose  traditions  and  tendencies  are  not 
quite  in  a  literary  direction, — to  say  the  least.  It  was  not 
so  much  individual  as  collective  thought  and  aspiration, 
that  made  the  Lowell  Offering  possible.  The  whole  Lowell 
factory  community  in  184.0  was  filled  with  the  idea  of  self- 
culture  and  a  better  education. 

In  order  that  the  reader  may  understand  the  sort  of 
people  who  composed  this  Arcadian  settlement,  it  will  be 
well  to  give  a  little  sketch  of  it  and  its  surroundings: — 

Lowell,  in  1S35,  was  little  more  thau  a  factory  village. 
Help  was  in  great  demand,  and  fabulous  stories  were  told 
of  the  new  town  (formerly  Chelmsford)  and  the  high  wages 
offered  to  all  classes  of  work-people;  stories  that  reached 
the  ears  of  mechanics  and  machinists  in  all  parts  of  New 
England,  and  gave  new  life  to  lonely  and  dependent  women 
in  distant  towns  and  farm  houses.  Into  this  Yankee  El 
Dorado  the  needy  people  began   to   pour  by  the  various 


204  APPENDIX. 

modes  of  travel  known  to  those  old  days.  They  came  by 
the  slow  toiling  canal,  which  then  "  tracked  its  sinuous 
way "  from  Boston  to  Lowell.  This  canal  is  no  longer 
used,  and  there -is  nothing  left  of  it  but  a  little  spot  where 
it  began  in  Charlestown.  There,  any  one  going  by  the  Bos- 
ton and  Maine  Railroad  can  see,  just  before  reaching  the 
Somerville  station,  a  few  decayed  willows  nodding  sleepily 
over  its  grass-grown  channel  and  ridgy  paths, —  a  reminder 
of  those  slow  times  when  it  took  a  long  summer's  day  to 
travel  the  twenty-eight  miles  from  Boston  to  Lowell.  The 
canal  boat  came  every  day,  always  filled  with  new  recruits 
to  the  army  of  useful  people.  The  mechanic  and  machin- 
ist came,  each  with  his  home-made  tool  chest,  his  house- 
hold stuff,  and  his  wife  and  little  ones.  The  widow  came 
with  her  little  flock,  and  her  scanty  housekeeping  goods,  to 
open  a  boarding  house  or  variety  store,  and  so  provide  a 
home  for  her  fatherless  children.  People  with  past  histo- 
ries came,  to  hide  their  griefs  and  their  identity,  and  to  earn 
an  honest  living  by  the  "sweat  of  their  brow."  Single 
young  men  came,  full  of  hope  and  life,  to  get  money  for  an 
education,  or  to  lift  the  mortgage  from  the  home  farm. 
Troops  of  young  girls  came  by  stages  and  baggage  wagons, 
and  men  were  employed  to  go  into  other  states  and 
Canada  and  collect  them  at  so  much  a  head  and  deliver 
them  at  the  factories. 

A  very  curious  sight  these  country  girls  presented  to 
young  eyes  accustomed  to  a  more  modern  style  of  things. 
When  the  large  covered  baggage  wagon  arrived  in  front  of 
a  "block  on  the  corporation  "  they  would  descend  from  it, 
dressed  in  various  and  outlandish  fashions  (some  of  the 
dresses,  perhaps,  having  served  for  best  during  two  genera- 
tions) and  with  their  arms  brimfull  of  bandboxes  containing 
all  their  worldly  goods.  These  country  girls,  as  they  were 
called,  had  queer  names,  some  of  which  added  to  the  sin- 
gularity of  their  appearance.  Samantha,  Triphena,  Plumy, 
Elgardy,  Leafy,  Ruhamah,  Lovey,  and  Florilla  were 
among  them.     They  soon   learned  rhe   ways  of   the   new 


APPENDIX.  205 

place  to  which  they  had  come,  and  after  paying  for  their 
transportation  they  used  their  earnings  to  re-dress  them- 
selves, and  in  a  little  while  were  as  stylish  as  the  rest;  for 
they  had  good  New  England  blood  in  them,  and  blood 
tells  even  in  factory  people. 

The  Lowell  factory  girls  were  a  simple  folk.  Many  of 
them  were  young  girls  growing  up  in  Arcadian  simplicity; 
earning  their  bread  and  often  that  of  others;  working 
twelve  hours  a  day,  with  three  months  schooling  in  a  year, 
and  eking  out  this  scanty  education  with  a  little  help  from 
evening  schools;  reading  such  books  as  were  found  in  the 
circulating  libraries  of  the  day;  meeting  for  mutual  im- 
provement and  help ;  striving  to  be  good  and  to  improve 
the  mind;  with  minds  wholly  untroubled  by  conventionali- 
ties, or  thoughts  of  class  distinction;  dressing  simply,  since 
they  had  no  time  to  waste  on  ruffles  or  the  entanglements 
of  dress.  Such  were  their  lives.  Undoubtedly  there  must 
have  been  another  side  of  this  picture,  but  the  writer 
speaks  of  the  side  she  knew  best, — the  bright  side. 

The  Lowell  Offering  writers  were  of  a  little  different  class 
from  those  who  came  "  down  from  the  country."  Some  of 
them  were  daughters  of  professional  men  or  teachers,  whose 
mothers,  left  widows,  were  struggling  to  maintain  the 
younger  children.  Some  of  them  were  the  daughters  of 
people  in  reduced  circumstances,  and  had  left  home  "on 
a  visit "  to  send  their  wages  surreptitiously  in  aid  of 
the  family  purse.  Some  of  them  were  the  grand-daughters 
of  patriots  who  had  fought  at  Bunker  Hill,  and  had  lost 
the  family  means  in  the  war  for  independence.  There  were 
a  few  who  seemed  to  have  mvsterious  antecedents,  and  to 
be  hiding  from  something;  and  strange  and  distinguished 
looking  men  and  women  sometimes  came  to  call  upon 
them.  Many  farmer's  daughters  came  from  the  neighbor- 
ing towns  to  earn  money  to  complete  their  wedding  outfit, 
or  buy  the  bride's  share  of  housekeeping  articles.  But  the 
most  prevailing  incentive  to  labor  was  to  secure  the  means 
of  education  for  some  male  member  of  the  family.     To 


2o6  APPENDIX. 

make  a  gentleman  of  a  brother  or  a  son,  to  give  him  a 
college  education,  was  the  dominant  thought  in  the  minds 
of  a  great  man}^  of  the  better  class  of  operatives.  I  have 
known  more  than  one  young  girl  to  give  every  cent  of  her 
wages,  month  after  month,  to  a  brother,  that  he  might  get 
the  education  necessary  to  enter  some  profession.  I  have 
known  women  to  educate  young  men  by  their  earnings,  who 
were  not  sons  or  relatives.  I  have  known  a  mother  to  work 
years  in  this  way  for  -her  boy. 

These  men,  educated  by  the  labor  and  self-sacrifice  of 
others,  sometimes  acquired  just  enough  learning  to  make 
them  look  down  upon  the  social  position  in  which  their 
women  friends  and  relatives  were  still  forced  to  remain. 
The  result  to  the  recipient  was  often  of  doubtful  value,  so 
far  as  the  development  of  the  affections  was  concerned. 
Sometimes  the  great  obligation  was  forgotten,  and  Lucy 
Downing's  pitiful  story  was  again  repeated  in  the  experi- 
ence of  some  lonely  and  neglected  woman.  Only  in  rare 
instances,  to  either  party  did  the  life-long  result  of  such 
sacrifice  on  the  part  of  the  women  of  the  family  become  of 
permanent  and  spiritual  value  1 

The  average  woman  of  fortv  years  ago  was  very  humble 
in  her  notions  of  the  sphere  of  woman.  What  if  she  did 
hunger  and  thirst  after  knowledge  ?  She  could  do  nothing 
with  it  even  if  she  could  get  it.  So  she  made  a  fetich  of 
some  male  relative,  and  gave  him  the  mental  food  for  which 
she  herself  was  starving ;  and  devoted  all  her  energies 
towards  helping  him  to  become  what  she  felt,  under  better 
conditions,  she  herself  might  have  been.  It  was  enough  in 
those  early  days  to  be  the  mother  or  sister  of  somebody. 
Women  were  almost  as  abject  in  this  particular  as  the 
Thracian  woman  of  old,  who  said : 

"  I  am  not  of  the  noble  Grecian  race, 
I'm  poor  Abrotonon,  and  born  in  Thrace; 
Let  the  Greek  women  scorn  me,  if  they  please, 
I  was  the  mother  of  Themistocles." 

There  are  women  still  left  who  believe  their  husbands, 


APPENDIX.  207 

sons,  or  male  friends  can  study,  read,  and  vote  for  them. 
They  are  like  some  frugal  house-mothers,  who  think,  there 
is  no  need  of  a  dinner  if  the  goodman  of  the  family  is  not 
coming  home  to  share  it.  Just  as  if  the  man  half  of  the 
human  family  can  eat,  "  learn  and  inwardly  digest,"  to  make 
either  physical  or  mental  strength  for  the  other  half ! 

One  word  about  the  foreign  element  that  crept  in  and 
destroyed  the  idyllic  life  of  the  Lowell  factory  operatives. 
The  Englishman  came  first ;  the  Irishman  followed ;  but 
not  until  within  a  few  years  has  the  Frenchman,  Italian 
and  German  come  to  take  possession  of  the  cotton  mills. 
I  remember  very  well  the  first  foreigner  who  came  to  work 
on  a  certain  Corporation.  He  brought  with  him  his  wife 
and  a  large  family  of  boys  and  girls.  The  word  poverty 
does  not  express  the  condition  in  which  they  first  appeared 
before  the  eyes  of  the  young  Lowellians.  Not  one  of  the 
family  wore  shoes  and  stockings,  or  a  covering  for  the 
head.  The  children  did  not  look  as  if  they  had  ever  been 
introduced  to  a  fine  comb,  or  had  made  the  acquaintance  of 
soap  and  water.  They  were  not  clothed  in  a  surplus  of 
finery,  and  their  brogue — who  shall  describe  it  t  It  was  a 
mixture  of  the  patois  of  the  Cockney  and  the  County  Cork 
dialect.  At  first  the  whole  family  lived  in  a  cellar,  and 
people  gave  them  food  enough  to  keep  souls  and  bodies 
together.  The  father  was  a  blue-dyer,  and  soon  got  work. 
The  mother  took  in  washing,  and  one  after  another  the 
children  went  into  the  factory.  In  ten  years  they  owned  a 
small  house;  and  the  girls  in  the  family,  in  the  enforced 
pauses  of  factory  life,*  had  gone  to  school  and  learned  to 
read  and  write  a  little.  They  dressed  as  well  as  other 
young  persons  of  their  age,  and  were  fast  making  marriages 
suitable  to  their  improved  condition.  The  sons  had  been 
better  educated :  one  had  turned  out  to  be  an  inventor,  and 
another,  the  youngest,  had  been  sent  to  college.     I  will  not 


♦  The  authorities  had  made  a  law  that  all  operatives  under  fourteen 
years  of  age  should  go  to  school  three  months  in  the  year. 


2o8  APPENDIX. 

say  what  he  became — only,  that  he  now  occupies  a  certain 
professional  position.  I  often  hear  of  him  in  public  life. 
The  other  day  he  made  a  speech  in  which  he  expressed 
his  opinion  on  the  great  question  of  equal  rights.  It  was 
an  opinion  so  common  and  so  trite  with  a  large  class  of 
our  opposers,  that  I  almost  hesitate  to  repeat  it.  It  was 
this: 

"  When  the  women  show  that  they  want  to  vote,  I  am 
willing  to  give  them  all  the  rights  they  want." 

Give !  I  thought.  Where  did  you  get  the  right  to  give 
the  Massachusetts  women  the  right  to  vote  ?  You  did  not 
inherit  it.  In  what  consists  your  prerogative  over  the 
women  whose  ancestors  fought  to  secure  the  very  right  of 
suffrage  of  which  you  so  glibly  talk,  and  which  neither  you, 
nor  your  father  before  you,  did  aught  to  establish  or  main- 
tain t  Ah,  old  friend !  If  you  had  staid  in  your  own 
country,  you  would  have  followed  your  father's  trade,  and 
would  have  had  no  more  opportunity  for  education,  or  right 
to  the  ballot,  than  you  are  willing  to  give  to  the  women. 
And  your  delicate  hands,  that  in  your  eloquent  perorations 
v/ave  away  so  gracefully  the  rights  of  the  daughters  of  your 
adopted  State,  would  now  and  forever  be  indelibly  stained 
with  the  ancestral  tint  of  the  blue-dye  pot  1 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  WOMAN'S  RIGHTS  CON- 
VENTION. 

THE     CALL. 

"A  Convention  will  be  held  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  on  the 
23rd  and  24th  of  October  next  (agreeably  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  preliminary  meeting  held  at  Boston  on  the  30th 
of  May  last)  to  consider  the  question  of  Woman's  Rights, 


•^APPENDIX.  209 

Duties,  and  Relations;  and  the  Men  and  Women  of  our 
country,  who  feel  sufficient  interest  in  the  great  subject  to 
give  an  earnest  thought  and  effective  effort  to  its  rightful 
adjustment,  are  invited  to  meet  each  other  in  free  confer- 
ence, at  the  time  and  place  appointed. 

The  upward-tending  spirit  of  the  age,  busy  in  a  hundred 
forms  of  effort  for  the  world's  redemption  from  the  sins  and 
sufferings  which  oppress  it,  has  brought  this  one,  which 
yields  to  none  in  importance  and  urgency,  into  distinguished 
prominence.  One  half  of  the  race  are  its  immediate  ob- 
jects, and  the  other  half  are  as  deeply  involved,  by  that 
absolute  unity  of  interest  and  destiny  which  nature  has 
established  between  them. 

The  neighbor  is  near  enough  to  involve  every  human 
being  in  a  general  equality  of  rights  and  community  of 
interests ;  but  Men  and  Women,  in  their  reciprocities  of 
love  and  duty,  are  one  flesh  and  one  blood — mother,  wife, 
sister  and  daughter  come  so  near  the  heart  and  mind  of 
every  man,  that  they  must  be  either  his  blessing  or  his 
bane.  Where  there  is  such  mutuality  of  interests,  such  an 
interlinking  of  life,  there  can  be  no  real  antagonism  of 
position  and  action.  The  sexes  should  not,  for  any  reason, 
or  by  any  chance,  take  hostile  attitudes  toward  each  other, 
either  in  the  apprehension  or  amendment  of  the  wrongs 
which  exist  in  their  necessary  relations ;  but  they  should 
harmonize  in  opinion  and  cooperate  in  effort,  for  the  reason 
that  they  must  unite  in  the  ultimate  achievement  of  the 
desired  reformation. 

Of  the  many  points  now  under  discussion  and  demand- 
ing a  just  settlement,  the  general  question  of  Woman's 
Rights  and  Relations  comprehends  such  as :  Her  Educa- 
tion, Literary,  Scientific  and  Artistic;  Her  Avocations, 
Industrial,  Commercial  and  Professional ;  Her  Interests, 
Pecuniary,  Civil  and  Political;  in  a  word — her  Rights  as 
an  individual,  and  her  Functions  as  a  Citizen. 

No  one  will  pretend  that  all  these  interests,  embracing, 
as  they  do,  all  that  is  not  merely  animal  in  a  human  life,  are 

14 


2IO  APPENDIX.  "^ 

rightly  understood  or  justly  provided  for  in  the  existing 
social  order.  Nor  is  it  any  more  true  that  the  constitutional 
differences  of  the  sexes,  which  should  determine,  define 
and  limit  the  resulting  differences  of  office  and  dut)',  are 
adequately  comprehended  and  practically  observed. 

Woman  has  been  condemned,  from  her  greater  delicacy 
of  physical  organization,  to  inferiority  of  intellectual  and 
moral  culture,  and  to  the  forfeiture  of  great  social,  civil  and 
religious  privileges..  In  the  relation  of  marriage,  she  has 
been  ideally  annihilated,  and  actually  enslaved  in  all  that 
concerns  her  personal  and  pecuniary  rights;  and  even  in 
widowhood  and  single  life,  she  is  oppressed  with  such 
limitation  and  degradation  of  labor  and  avocation  as 
clearly  and  cruelly  mark  the  condition  of  a  disabled  caste. 
But,  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty,  the  beneficent 
spirit  of  reform  is  roused  to  the  redress  of  these  wrongs. 
The  tyranny  which  degrades  and  crushes  wives  and 
mothers,  sits  no  longer  lightly  on  the  world's  conscience — 
the  heart's  home-worship  feels  the  stain  of  stooping  at  a 
dishonored  altar.  Manhood  begins  to  feel  the  shame  of 
muddying  the  springs  from  which  it  draws  its  highest  life ; 
and  Womanhood  is  everywhere  awakening  to  assert  its 
divinely  chartered  rights,  and  to  fulfil  its  noblest  duties.  It 
is  the  spirit  of  reviving  truth  and  righteousness  which  has 
moved  upon  the  great  deep  of  the  public  heart,  and  aroused 
its  redressing  justice;  and,  through  it,  the  Providence  of 
God  is  vindicating  the  order  and  appointments  of  his 
creation. 

The  signs  are  encouraging;  the  time  is  opportune. 
Come,  then,  to  this  Convention.  It  is  your  duty,  if  you  are 
worthy  of  your  age  and  country.  Give  the  help  of  your 
best  thought  to  separate  the  light  from  the  darkness. 
Wisely  give  the  protection  of  your  name  and  the  benefit 
of  your  efforts  to  the  great  work  of  settling  the  principles, 
devising  the  method,  and  achieving  the  success  of  this  high 
and  holy  movement." 

The  above  call  was  signed  in  the  following  order: 


APPENDIX.  2  1 1 

Massachusetts. —  Lucy  Stone,  William  H.  Channing, 
Harriot  K.  Hunt,  A.  Bronson  Alcott,  Nathaniel  Barney, 
Eliza  Barney,  Wendell  Phillips,  Ann  Greene  Phillips, 
Adin  Ballou,  Anna  Q.  T.  Parsons,  Mary  H.  L.  Cabot,  B.  S. 
Treanor,  Mary  M.  Brooks,  T.  W.  Higginson,  Mary  E.  Hig- 
ginson,  Emily  Winslovv,  R.  Waldo  Emerson,  William  Lloyd 
Garrison,  Helen  E.  Garrisoii,  Charles  F.  Hovey,  Sarah 
Earle,  Abby  Kelley  Foster,  Dr.  Seth  Rogers,  Eliza  F.  Taft, 
Dr.  A.  C.  Taft,  Charles  K.  Whipple,  Mary  Bullard,  Emma 
C.  Goodwin,  Abby  H.  Price,  Thankful  Southwick,  Eliza  J. 
Kenney,  Louisa  M.  Sewall,  Sarah  Southwick. 

Rhode  Island. —  Sarah  H.  Whitman,  Thomas  Davis, 
Paulina  Wright  Davis,  Joseph  A.  Barker,  Sarah  Brown, 
Elizabeth  B.  Chace,  Mary  Clarke,  John  L.  Clarke,  George 
Clarke,  IMary  Adams,  George  Adams. 

New  York.— Gerrit  Smith,  Nancy  Smith,  Elizabeth 
Cady  Stanton,  Catharine  Wilkinson,  Samuel  J.May,  Char- 
lotte C.  May,  Charlotte  G.  Coffin,  Mary  G.  Taber,  Elizabeth 
S.  Miller,  Elizabeth  Russell,  Stephen  S.  Smith,  Rosa  Smith, 
Joseph  Savage,  L.  N.  Fowler,  Lydia  Fowler,  Sarah  Smith, 
Charles  D.  Miller. 

Pen N SYLVAN i.\. —  William  Elder,  Sarah  Elder,  Sarah 
Tyndale,  Warner  Justice,  Jane  G.  Swisshelm,  Charlotte 
Darlington,  Simon  Barnard,  Lucretia  Mott,  Myra  Town- 
send,  Mary  Grew,  Sarah  Lewis,  Sarah  Pugh,  Huldah 
Justice,  William  Swisshelm,  James  Mott,  W.  S.  Pierce, 
Hannah  Darlington,  Sarah  D.  Barnard. 

Maryland. —  Eliza  Stewart. 

Ohio. —  Elizabeth  Wilson,  Mary  A.  Johnsion,  Oliver 
Johnson,  Mary  Cowles,  Maria  L.  Giddings,  Jane  Elizabeth 
Jones,  Benjamin  S.  Jones,  Lucius  A.  Hine,  Sylvia  ConieU. 

officers  of  the  convention. 
President,  Paulina  W.  Davis,  of  Rhode  Island.  V^ice 
Pi-esideiits,  William  H.  Channing,  of  Massachusetts,  Sarah 
Tyndale,  of  Pennsylvania.  Secretaries,  Hannah  M.  Dar- 
lington, of  Pennsylvania,  Joseph  C.  Hathaway,  of  New 
York. 


212  APPENDIX. 

SPEAKERS   IN  THE  CONVENTION. 

Lucretia  Mott,  Abby  H.  Price,  W.  H.  Channing,  Ernest- 
ine L.  Rose,  Abby  K.  Foster,  C.  C.  Burleigh,  Wendell 
Phillips,  J.  N.  Buffum,  S.  S.  Foster,  Harriot  K.  Hunt, 
Antoinette  L.  Brown,  Mrs.  Ball,  W.  A.  Alcott,  Sojourner 
Truth,  A.  Brown,  Frederick  Douglass,  \Vm.  Lloyd  Garrison, 
Sarah  Tyndale,  Martha  H.  Mowry,  Lucy  Stone. 

LETTERS  TO   THE   CONVENTION    WERE    RECEIVED   FROM, 

Elizabeth  C.  Stanton,  Samuel  J.  May,  L.  A.  Hine, 
Elizur  Wright,  O.  S.  Fowler,  E.  A.  Lukens,  Margaret 
Chappelsmith,  Nancy  M.  Baird,  Jane  Cowen,  Sophia  L. 
Little,  Elizabeth  Wilson,  Maria  L.  Varney,  Mildred  A, 
Spafard,  H.  M.  Weber. 

MEMBERS   OF  THE   CONVENTION. 

Massachusetts. —  T.  B.  Elliot,  Eliza  J.  Kennej',  M.  S. 
Firth,  Julia  A.  Mclntyre,  Emily  Sanford,  H.  M.  Sanford, 
C.  D.  M.  Lane,  Elizabeth  Firth,  S.  C.  Sargeant  C.  A.  K. 
Ball,  M.  A.  Thompson,  Lucinda  Safford,  S.  E.  Hall,  S.  D. 
Holmes,  Z.  W.  Harlow,  N.  B.  Spooner,  Ignatius  Sargent, 
A.  B.  Humphrey,  M.  R.  Hadwen,  J.  H.  Shaw,  Olive 
Darling,  M.  A.  Walden,  A.  P.  B.  Rawson,  Nathaniel 
Barney,  Sarah  H.  Earle,  Lewis  Ford,  J.  T.  Everett,  Loring 
Moody,  Sojourner  Truth,  Rev.  J.  G.  Forman,  Andrew 
Stone,  M.  D.,  Samuel  May.  Jr.,  Sarah  R.  May,  Charles 
Brigham,  J.  T.  Partridge,  Eliza  C.  Clapp,  Daniel  Steward, 
Sophia  Foord,  E.  A.  Clarke,  E.  H.  Taft,  Anna  E.  Ruggles, 
Mary  Abbot,  Anna  E.  Fish,  C.  G.  Munyan,  Maria  L. 
Southwick,  F.  C.  Johnson,  Thomas  Hill,  Elizabeth  Frail, 
Eli  Belknap,  M.  M.  Frail,  Valentine  Belknap,  Effingham 
L.  Capron,  Frances  H.  Drake,  E.  M.  Dodge,  Eliza  Barney, 
Lydia  Barney,  G.  D.»Williams,  Elizabeth  Earle,  E.  Jane 
Alden,  Elizabeth  Dayton,  Lima  H.  Ober,  Dorothy  Whiting, 
Emily  Whiting,  Abigail  Morgan^  Mary  R.  Metcalf,  R.  H. 
Ober,  D.  A.  Mundy,  Dr.  S.  Rogers,  Mrs.  E.  J.  Henshaw, 
Edward  Southwick,  E.  A.  Merrick,  Mrs.  C.  Merrick,  C.  S. 


APPENDIX.  213 

Dow,  Josiah  Henshaw,  Andrew  Wellington,  Louisa  Glea- 
son,  Paulina  Gerry,  Lucy  Stone,  Mrs.  Chickery,  Mrs.  F.  A. 
Pierce,  C.  M.  Trenor,  R.  C.  Capron,  William  Lloyd  Garri- 
son, Emily  Loveland,  Mrs.  S.  Worcester,  Phebe  Worcester^ 
Adeline  Worcester,  Joanna  R.  Ballou,  Abby  PL  Price,  B.  Wil- 
lard,  T.  Pool,  M.  B.  Kent,  E.  H.  Knowlton,  D.  H.  Knowl- 
ton,  G.  Valentine,  A.  Prince,  Lydia  Wilmarth,  J.  G.  Warren, 
Mrs.  E.  A,  Stowell,  Martin  Stowell,  Mrs.  E.  Stamp,  C.  M. 
Barbour,  Anna  Q.  T.  Parsons,  C.  D.  McLane,  W.  H.  Chan- 
ning,  Wendell.  Phillips,  Abby  K.  Foster,  S.  S.  Foster,  Wm. 

D.  Cady,  Mrs.  J.  G.  Hodgden,  C.  M.  Shaw,  Ophelia  D.  Hill, 
Mrs.  P.  Allen,  E.  Goddard,  M.  F.  Gilbert,  A.  H.  Johnson, 
W.  H.  Harrington,  E.  B.  Briggs,  A.  C.  Lackey,  Ora  Ober, 
Thomas  Provan,  Rebecca  Provan,  A.  W.  Thayer,  M.  M. 
Munyan,  W.  H.  Johnson,  G.  W.  Benson,  Mrs.  C.  M.  Carter, 
H.  S.  Brigham,  E.  A.  Welsh,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Moore,  Margaret  S. 
Merritt,  Martha  Willard,  A.  N.  Lamb,  Mrs.  Chaplin,  N.  B. 
Hill,  K.  H.  Parsons,  C.  Jillscn,  L.  Wait,  F.  H.  Underwood, 
J.  B.  Willard,  Perry  Joslin,  Elizabeth  Johnson,  Seneth 
Smith,  Marian  Hill,  Wm.  Coe,  E.  T.  Smith,  S.  Aldrich, 
M.  A.  Maynard,  S.  P.  R.,  J.  N.  Cummings,  Nancy  Fay, 
M.  Jane  Davis,  D.  R.  Crandell,  E.  M.  Burleigh,  Sarah 
Chafee,  Adeline  Perry,  Lydia  E.  Chase,  J.  A.  Fuller,  Sarah 
Prentice,  Emily  Prentice,  H.  N.  Fairbanks,  Mrs.  A.  Crowl, 
D wight  Tracy,  J.  S.  Perry,  Isaac  Norcross,  E.  A.  Parring- 
ton,  Mrs.  Parrington,  Harriot  K.  Hunt,  Charles  F.  Hovey, 
Susan  Fuller,  Thomas  Earle,  Alice  C.  Earle,  Martha  B. 
Earle,  Anne  H.  Southwick,  Joseph  A.  Howland,  Adeline 
H.  Howland,  O.  T.  Harris,  Julia  T.  Harris,  John  M.  Spear, 

E.  D.  Draper,  D.  R.  P.  Hewitt,  L.  G.  Wilkins,  J.  H.  Bin- 
ney,  Mary  Adams,  Anna  Goulding,  Olive  W.  Hastings. — 
186. 

Connecticut. —  C.  M.  Collins,  A.  H.  Metcalf,  Anna 
Cornell,  S.  Munroe,  Anna  E.  Price,  M.  C.  Munroe,  Martha 
Smith,  Lucius  Holmes,  Benj.  Segur,  Buel  Picket,  Lucy  T. 
Dike,  Asa  Cutler,  C.  C.  Burleigh,  Gertrude  R.  Burleigh. 

Rhode  Island. —  Elizabeth  B.  Chace,  Cynthia  P.  Bliss, 


214  APPENDIX. 

R.  M.  C.  Capron,  M.  H.  Mowry,  Mary  Eddy,  Daniel 
Mitchell,  Paulina  W.  Davis,  G.  Davis,  A.  Barnes,  Dr.  S. 
Mowry,  Betsey  F.  Lawton. 

Vermont. — Mrs.  A.  E.  Brown,  Mrs.  C.  I.  H.  Nichols. 

New  Hampshire. —  Sarah  Pillsbury,  P.  B.  Cogswell, 
Parker  Pillsbury,  Ira  Foster,  Julia  Worcester. 

Maine. —  Oliver  Dennett,  Anna  R.  Blake,  Ellen  M. 
Prescott. 

New  York. —  Antoinette  L.  Brown,  Pliny  Sexton,  Fred- 
erick Douglass,  Edgar  Hicks,  J.  C.  Hathaway,  Lucy 
N.  Colman,  Ernestine  L.  Rose,  S.  H.  Hallock,  Joseph 
Carpenter. 

Pennsylvania. — Hannah  M.  Darlington,  Sarah  Tyndale, 
Olive  W.  Hastings,  Rebecca  Plumley,  S.  L.  Hastings, 
Janette  Jackson,  Anna  R.  Cox,  Phebe  Goodwin,  Alice 
Jackson,  Jacob  Pierce,  Lewis  E.  Capen,  S.  L.  Miller,  Isaac 
L.  Miller,  Lucretia  Mott,  Emma  Parker. 

Ohio.— Marian  Blackwell,  Ellen  Blackwell,  M.  A.  W. 
Johnson. 

Iowa. —  Silas  Smith. 

California. —  Mary  G.  Wright. 

Unknown.— Sophia  Taft,  Calvin  Fairbanks,  D.  H. 
Knowlton,  Alice  H.  Easton,  E.  W.  K.  Thompson,  Mary  R. 
Hubbard,  E.  J.  Alden,  Anna  T.  Draper,  Josephine  Reglar, 
Diana  W.  Ballou,  Adeline  S.  Greene,  Silence  Bigelow, 
A.  Wyman,  L.  H.  Ober.  Aseneth  Fuller,  Denney  M.  F. 
Walker,  Eunice  D.  F.  Pierce,  Elijah  Houghton.  —  82. 
Total,  26S. 


E. 

HARRIOT  K.  HUNT'S   PROTEST  AGAINST  TAX- 
ATION WITHOUT  REPRESENTATION. 

In  "  Glances  and  Glimpses,"  a  book  published  by  Dr. 
Hunt  in  1856,  the  writer  gives  her  own  experience  at  the 
time  she  was  converted  to  the  doctrine  of  "no  taxation 


APPENDIX.  215 

without  representation."  She  says:  "In  October,  1851, 
when  my  taxes  were  to  be  paid,  it  was  necessary  for  me  to 
go  to  the  Assessors'  room  that  I  might  have  some  altera- 
tion made  in  the  bill.  While  waiting  there  for  this  to  be 
attended  to,  I  received  a  lesson  which  thoroughly  converted 
me  to  the  belief  that  taxation  without  jrepresentation  is  a  vio- 
lation of  human  rights,  and  there  I  made  up  my  mind  to 
verify  my  theory  by  my  practice.  What  so  suddenly  pro- 
duced this  effect.''  A  pale,  thin,  waxy,  tall, awkward,  simple 
Irish  boy,  with  that  vacant  stare  which  speaks  of  entire 
negation,  and  that  shuffling  manner  indicating  an  errand- 
like aspect,  brought  into  the  Assessors'  office  a  roll.  It 
was  near  the  time  of  an  election,  but  I  did  not  think  of  it. 
I  said  pleasantly,  *Is  that  paper  to  grant  a  naturalization?* 
I  received  a  polite  affirmative.  *  Permit  me  to  look  at  it  ?  * 
'Certainly.'  There  to  my  astonishment  the  above-de- 
scribed ,f^«//^/«rt:«  was  invested  with  all  the  privileges  of  an 
American  citizen.  I  query  whether  this  Irish  boy  knew  in 
what  state  Boston  was  located,  whether  in  Massachusetts 
or  Mississippi.  This  circumstance  gave  me  an  insight  into 
the  injustice  of  our  laws  forbidding  women  to  vote,  which 
decided  me  to  pay  my  taxes  next  year  under  protest. 
Accordingly  I  sent  the  following  protest : 

To  Frederick  U.  Tracy,  Treasurer,  and  the  Assessors,  and 
other  authorities  of  the  City  of  Boston,  and  the  citi- 
zens generally, 

Harriot  K.  Hunt,  physician,  a  native  and  permanent 
resident  of  the  City  of  Boston,  and  for  many  years  a  tax 
payer  therein,  in  making  payment  of  her  city  taxes  for  the 
coming  year,  begs  leave  to  protest  against  the  injustice  and 
inequality  of  levying  taxes  upon  women,  and  at  the  same 
time  refusing  them  any  voice  or  vote  in  the  imposition  and 
expenditure  of  the  same.  The  only  classes  of  male  persons 
required  to  pay  taxes  and  not  at  the  same  time  allowed  the 
privilege  of  voting,  are  aliens  and  minors.     The  objection 


2l6  APPENDIX. 

in  the  case  of  aliens,  is,  their  supposed  want  of  interest  in 
our  institutions,  and  knowledge  of  them.  The  objection  in 
case  of  minors,  is,  the  want  of  sufficient  understanding. 
These  objections  certainly  cannot  apply  to  women,  natives 
of  the  city,  all  whose  property  and  interests  are  here,  and 
who  have  accumulated  by  their  own  sagacity  and  industry 
the  very  property  on  which  they  are  taxed.  But  this  is  not 
all;  the  alien  by  going  through  the  forms  of  naturalization, 
the  minor  on  coming  of  age,  obtain  the  right  of  voting,  and 
so  long  as  they  continue  to  pay  a  mere  poll-tax  of  a  dollar 
and  a  half,  they  may  continue  to  exercise  it,  though  so  igno- 
rant as  not  to  be  able  to  sign  their  names,  or  read  the  very 
votes  they  put  into  the  ballot  boxes.  Even  drunkards,  felons, 
idiots,  or  lunatics  of  i7ie7t,  may  still  enjoy  that  right  of 
voting,  to  which  no  woman  —  however  large  the  amount 
of  taxes  she  pays,  however  respectable  her  character  or 
useful  her  life  —  can  ever  attain.  Wherein,  your  remon- 
strant would  inquire,  is  the  justice,  equality,  or  wisdom 
of  this? 

That  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  female  part  of  the 
community  are  sometimes  forgotten  or  disregarded  in  con- 
sequence of  their  deprivation  of  political  rights,  is  strik- 
ingly evinced,  as  appears  to  your  remonstrant,  in  the 
organization  and  administration  of  the  city  public  schools. 
Though  there  are  open  in  this  State  and  neighborhood  a 
great  multitude  of  colleges  and  professional  schools,  for 
the  education  of  boys  and  young  men,  yet  the  city  has 
very  properly  provided  two  high  schools  of  its  own,  one 
Latin,  the  other  English,  at  which  the  male  graduates  of  the 
grammar  schools  may  pursue  their  education  still  further 
at  the  public  expense,  and  why  is  not  a  like  provision  made 
for  the  girls?  Why  is  the  public  provision  for  their  educa- 
tion stopped  short,  just  as  they  have  attained  the  age  best 
fitted  for  progress,  and  the  preliminary  knowledge  neces- 
sary to  facilitate  it,  thus  giving  the  advantage  of  superior 
culture  to  sex,  not  to  mind  ?  The  fact  that  our  colleges  and 
professional  schools  are  closed  against  females,  of  which 


APPENDIX.  217 

your  remonstrant  has  had  personal  and  painful  experience — 
having  been  in  the  year  1S47,  after  twelve  years  of  medical 
practice  in  Boston,  refused  permission  to  attend  the  lec- 
tures of  Harvard  Medical  College — that  fact  would  seem  to 
furnish  an  additional  reason  why  the  city  should  provide  at 
its  own  expense  those  means  of  superior  education,  which,  by 
supplying  our  girls  with  occupation  and  objects  of  interest, 
would  not  only  save  them  from  lives  of  frivolity  and 
emptiness,  but  which  might  open  the  way  to  many  useful 
and  lucrative  pursuits,  and  so  raise  them  above  that 
degrading  dependence,  so  fruitful  a  source  of  female  misery. 

Reserving  a  more  full  exposition  of  the  subject  to  future 
occasions,  your  remonstrant  in  paymg  her  tax  for  the 
current  year,  begs  leave  to  protest  against  the  injustice  and 
inequalities  above  pointed  out. 

This  is  respectfully  submitted, 

Harriot  K.  Hunt, 

32  Green  Street. 

BosTOX,  October  18,  1852. 

The  protest  was  copied  in  many  American,  as  well  as 
some  English  papers.  It  elicited  inquiry,  and  many  facts 
were  brought  to  light  illustrating  the  injustice  of  taxation 
without  representation." 

Dr.  Hunt  continued  to  protest  every  year  as  long  as  she 
lived,  and  her  example  was  followed  by  women  in  Worces- 
ter, Plymouth,  Lowell,  Maiden  and  perhaps  in  other  places. 
No  notice  was  taken  of  these  protests  by  the  proper  author- 
ities to  whom  they  were  addressed,  but  they  served  their 
purpose  as  a  means  of  agitating  the  Woman's  Rights 
question.  The  cry,  "  Taxation  without  representation  is 
tyranny,"  has  been  ding-donged  into  the  ears  of  the  men  of 
Massachusetts  for  the  last  thirty  years.  By  and  by,  per- 
haps, they  will  begin  to  understand  what  it  means. 


2l8  APPENDIX. 

F. 

CONVENTIONS  AND  WOMEN'S  MEETINGS  HELD 
BY  MRS.  CAROLINE  HEALEY  DALE. 

Mrs.  Ball's  connection  with  the  early  Woman's  Rights 
movement  in  Massachusetts  is  very  important.  She  held  a 
successful  Convention,  (not  mentioned  in  the  text),  June 
1st,  i860,  at  the  Meionaon,  in  Boston.  Caroline  M.  Sev- 
erance presided,  Samuel  J.  May,  R.  J.  Hintin,  Harriet 
Tubman,  Rev.  James  Freeman  Clark,  Dr.  Mercy  B.  Jack- 
son, Elizabeth  M.  Powell,  and  Wendell  Phillips,  took  part 
in  the  discussion.  Theodore  Parker  had  recently  died  in 
Florence,  Italy,  and  Mrs.  Dall  made  an  able  address  on 
the  work  of  his  life.  Mrs.  E.  D  Cheney  offered  a  resolu- 
tion on  the  untimely  death  of  this  distinguished  reformer. 
In  the  evening,  Mrs.  Dall  spoke  on  the  influence  of  law 
and  literature  upon  the  woman  movement.  So  many 
women  of  position  and  culture  had  already  become  inter- 
ested in  this  question,  that  this  Convention  may  be  called 
the  most  aristocratic  meeting  of  the  kind  held  up  to  that 
date.  Previous  to  i860,  Mrs.  Dall  had  given  a  course  of 
twelve  lectures  in  Boston,  on  the  various  phases  of  woman's 
rights.  In  them  she  claimed :  i.  Woman's  right  to  civil 
position.  2.  Woman's  right  to  higher  education.  3. 
Woman's  right  to  choice  of  vocation.  4.  Woman's  right  to 
self-protection  in  the  elective  franchise.  A  resume  of  these 
lectures  was  published  in  186S,  in  book  form,  called  "The 
College,  the  Market,  and  the  Court." 

Mrs.  Dall's  writings  did  a  good  work  in  forming  public 
opinion,  and  creating  interest  on  the  subjects  of  which  she 
treated.  Some  of  the  doctrines  she  taught  had  never 
before  been  publicly  presented  to  Boston  audiences.  Her 
fresh  and  untrammelled  thought  was  like  seed-grain,  and  it 
was  planted  deep,  to  spring  up  and  bear  fruit  for  the 
increase  of  the  woman's  rights  agitation.  She  made  many 
distinguished  converts.     On  her  own  authority  it  may  be 


APPENDIX.  219 

Stated  that  she  presided  at  the  meeting  when  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson  gave  in  his  adherence  to  the  Woman  Suffrage 
Cause.  Considering  the  early  date  of  Mrs.  Ball's  labors  in 
this  direction,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  her  influence 
was  of  so  great  value  that  her  name  deserves  to  be  recorded 
with  those  of  Mary  WoUstonecraft  and  Margaret  Fuller. 

Through  her  special  efforts  women  were  first  put  on  the 
board  of  Officers  of  the  American  and  the  Boston  Social 
Science  Associations,  and  the  result  of  this  action  vindi- 
cated at  once  and  forever  woman's  fitness  to  occupy  th6 
same  position  in  all  public  societies  and  associations,  that 
man  had  hitherto  claimed  for  himself  alone.  Since  1865 
the  American  Social  Science  Association  has  admitted 
women  to  a  position  of  entire  equality,  as  members,  offi- 
cers, and  as  speakers  at  its  annual  conventions.  This  has 
been  of  great  benefit,  since  it  has  encouraged  women  to 
express  themselves  in  the  presence  of  the  wisest  men,  and 
enabled  them  to  present  to  the  public  the  woman  side  of 
some  great  questions. 


G. 

THREE  MIDDLESEX  COUNTY  CONVENTIONS. 

In  1875  three  important  woman  suffrage  conventions 
were  held  by  the  Middlesex  County  Woman  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation in  the  towns  of  Maiden,  Melrose  and  Concord. 
These  meetings  were  conducted  something  after  the  style 
of  local  church  conferences.  They  were  well  advertised, 
and  many  people  came  to  them.  A  collation  was  provided 
by  the  ladies  of  each  town,  and  the  feast  of  reason  was  so 
judiciously  mingled  with  the  triumphs  of  cookery,  that 
converting  to  the  cause  was  never  done  so  easily  and  so 
harmoniously.  Many  women  present  at  one  or  the  other  of 
these  conventions,  said  to  the  president:  "I  never  before 


220  APPENDIX. 

heard  a  woman's  rights  speech.  If  these  are  the  reasons 
why  women  should  vote,  I  believe  in  voting.  I  never 
thought  of  the  subject  in  that  light  before." 

At  the  Maiden  convention  speeches  were  made  by  Mrs. 
Julia  Ward  Howe,  Mrs.  Lucy  Stone,  Miss  Mary  F.  East- 
man, Miss  Huldah  B.  Loud,  Henry  B.  Blackwell,  Rev. 
George  H.  Vibbert,  Rev.  S.  W.  Bush,  Rev.  D.  M.  Wilson, 
and  the  president  of  the  association,  Mrs.  Harriet  H. 
Robinson.  Letters  were  received  from  William  Lloyd 
Garrison,  Elizur  Wright,  Richard  P.  Hallowell,  Bishop 
Gilbert  Haven,  Judge  Robert  C.  Pitman,  Hon.  George  F. 
Hoar  and  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore.  An  able  set  of  reso- 
lutions, prepared  by  W.  S.  Robinson  ("  Warrington  ")  was 
adopted : 

Resolved,  That  Woman  has  an  equal  right  with  man  to 
the  ballot,  and  that  to  deprive  her  of  the  use  of  it  is  an  act 
of  usurpation  which  ought  to  be  immediately  discontinued. 

Resolved,  That  we  care  not  whether  the  right  of  Suffrage 
be  called  natural  and  absolute,  or  conventional,  or  de- 
pendent on  capacity,  or  property,  or  on  any  kind  of  qualifi- 
cation which  may  be  acquired,  it  is  the  same  in  woman  as 
in  man;  that  historically  and  legally  —  by  Genesis  and  by 
the  Statutes,  this  equality  is  specially  recognized. 

Resolved,  That  the  reasons  why  women  were  excluded 
from  voting  at  certain  elections  (not  at  all)  and  upon  certain 
subjects  (not  upon  all)  by  the  framers  of  the  Constitution, 
are  no  longer  applicable;  because,  since  the  year  1780, 
woman  has,  in  hundreds  of  instances,  individually  and  in 
classes,  broken  over  those  restraints  which  were  once  held 
to  keep  her  in  subordinate  positions  in  the  active  affairs  of 
life ;  she  teaches,  preaches,  practices  the  medical  profession, 
edits  newspapers,  buys  and  sells,  owns  and  manages  prop- 
erty, and  transacts  business  of  all  descriptions.  The  reason 
for  the  exclusion  of  Woman  from  the  Suffrage  having  van- 
ished, let  the  spirit  and  practice  of  exclusion  go  with  it. 

Resolved,  That  the  pretense  that  Woman  should  be  kept 
from  the  ballot-box  and  the  town  meeting,  because  govern- 


APPENDIX.  221 

ment  is  founded  upon  force  and  military  power,  is  a  legal 
and  historical  falsehood,  inasmuch  as  the  Constitution,  by 
Art.  X,  Sec.  i,  Chap,  ii,  specifies  a  certain  class  of  elections 
for  the  militia  alone  to  share  in ;  and  as,  furthermore,  to 
confine  the  Suffrage  to  those  who  form  the  military  force 
would  exclude  from  our  elections  thousands  of  males  who 
now  vote,  or  who  are  now  specially  complained  of  for  not 
voting;  and  finally  because  by  the  last  and  perhaps  most 
important  of  the  Declarations  of  Rights,  it  is  stipulated 
that  the  power  of  making  the  laws  and  the  power  of  execu- 
ting them  shall  be  kept  forever  apart,  to  the  end  that  "  it 
may  be  a  government  of  laws  and  not  of  men." 

Resolved,  That  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  by 
persisting  in  its  opposition  to  the  granting  of  all  petitions 
for  the  removal  of  usurping  rules  and  statutes  on  the 
subject,  is  unjust ;  and  that,  no  matter  whether  this  spirit 
and  practice  of  injustice  be  the  result  of  carelessness  or 
ignorance  or  malice,  it  is  its  duty  at  once  to  correct  it,  and 
no  longer  to  interpose  its  own  will  and  wilfulness  against 
the  demand  of  justice  and  the  dictates  of  duty. 

THE   MELROSE   CONVENTION 

Was  honored  by  the  presence  of  Julia  E.  and  Abby  H. 
Smith  of  Glastonbury,  Connecticut.  These  ladies,  who 
have  become  famous,  because  of  their  resistance  to  the 
tyranny  of  "  taxation  without  representation,"  told  the  story 
of  their  oppression  in  the  most  simple  and  effective  man- 
ner. They  stood  upon  the  platform,  (two  gray-haired, 
sweet-faced  ladies,  both  over  seventy  years  of  age,  dressed 
just  alike),  and  were  introduced  to  the  large  audience. 
They  remained  standing;  and  while  one  read  her  carefully- 
prepared  little  speech,  the  other  stood  near  and  nodded 
approval,  and,  at  the  right  time,  reminded  her  sister  of  any 
little  point  about  the  sale  of  the  cows  that  she  had  omitted, 
with  "  Don't  you  remember,  Abby,  that  he  was  real  rough 
to  Whitey?"  or  "He  said  it  much  stronger  than  that, 
Abby."     The  story  they  told  is  as  follows : 


2  22  APPENDIX. 

Julia  E.  Smith  said:  "These  two  women  who  have 
caused  such  a  turmoil  in  their  native  place,  and  who  have, 
as  their  opponents  say,  signally  disgraced  the  ancient  town 
of  Glastonbury,  Ct.,  now  present  themselves  before  you. 
What  have  we  done  ?  We  have  merely  asserted  that  it  is 
as  wrong  to  take  a  woman's  property  without  her  consent, 
as  it  is  to  take  a  man's  property  without  his  consent ;  and 
we  stand  to  it. 

"  No  man  or  woman  denies  this  in  conversation.  For 
this  we  have  had  our  pet  cows  seized  and  sold  at  the 
auction  block,  our  whole  meadow  land  attached,  and  eleven 
acres  sold  for  a  tax  of  not  quite  fifty  dollars,  worth  more 
than  two  thousand  dollars.  For  this  unlawful  deed  we 
tried  to  get  redress,  and  a  prominent  and  upright  citizen  of 
our  own  town  decided  in  our  favor,  according  to  the  statute 
which  expressly  declares  that  real  estate  cannot  be  taken 
where  personal  estate  can  be  found.  But  these  unjust  men 
appealed  to  the  Hartford  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and 
brought  us  up  for  three  days  in  the  severity  of  winter,  seven 
miles  from  our  dwelling,  and  told  us  that  Mr.  Briscoe,  the 
regular  judge,  was  sick  and  we  must  be  tried  by  George  G. 
Sumner,  the  City  Judge.  This  was  wholly  false,  for  Judge 
Briscoe  was  hearing  another  case  in  the  same  building,  and 
came  in,  the  second  day,  and  conversed  with  us.  The 
judge  took  care  to  defer  his  decision  two  weeks  and  two 
days,  so  that  it  might  be  too  late  to  bring  the  case  before 
the  court  of  errors  for  the  March  session,  and  then  prom- 
ised Mr.  Cornwall,  our  lawyer,  to  give  him  the  facts  in  the 
case.  Mr.  Cornwall  has  been  obliged  to  sue  the  town,  the 
collector  and  Hardin  who  has  a  deed  of  the  meadow  land, 
to  bring  up  the  case-  before  the  Court  of  Equity  to  set 
aside  the  deed,  and  the  Court  has  appointed  a  committee 
to  take  cognizance  of  the  business.  But  Goslee,  the  town 
lawyer,  objects  to  every  one,  and  the  Court  will  be  obliged 
to  appoint  men  of  their  own  choice.  The  whole  iniquity 
has  been  concocted  beforehand,  and  their  contrivance  is, 
for  our  old  enemy  to  record  his  deed  before  the  year  is  up. 


APPENDIX.  223 

Our  lawyer  seems  to  think  that  all  this  affair  is  so  unlawful 
that  there  is  no  danger  in  letting  it  go  over  the  year.  But 
that  we  are  not  willing  to  suffer,  for  we  cannot  bear  to  see 
all  our  hay  hauled  up  through  our  yard  directly  by  the 
house  for  the  advantage  of  such  an  ugly  neighbor,  and  we 
do  not  see  that  it  can  aid  the  Suffrage  cause  to  throw  away, 
and  worse  than  throw  away,  two  or  three  thousand  dollars, 
to  our  unspeakable  injury.  Did  our  forefathers  pass 
through  a  seven  years'  bloody  war,  that  only  half  their 
posterity  should  be  benefited  by  the  sacrifice  and  be  left 
without  appeal  either  to  town  or  state  ?  The  state  took  no 
notice  of  our  petition  (there  being  no  discussion  upon  it) 
except  to  give  us  leave  to  withdraw ;  all  the  privilege  we 
ever  have  had  from  its  laws.  We  seem  to  be  left  without  a 
country,  and  we  cannot  see  but  we  should  fare  better  under 
a  king;  for  King  George  himself  never  attached  woman's 
property  in  so  unfeeling  and  cowardly  a  manner  as  has  been 
done  to  us.  He  merely  tried  to  collect  some  duties  of  his 
subjects,  and  they  had  the  privilege  of  refraining  from 
drinking  a  cup  of  tea,  which  many  of  the  women  were  brave 
enough  to  do  a  hundred  years  ago.  Now  men  propose  to 
celebrate  their  victory  over  taxation  without  representation 
by  keeping  a  grand  Centennial,  while  they  leave  half  their 
citizens  in  a  situation  to  suffer  the  same  tyranny.  We  have 
now  another  tax  hanging  over  our  heads,  of  150  dollars, 
sent  us  by  mail  last  October,  which  they  do  not  at  present 
venture  to  collect,  as  has  been  intimated  to  us,  until  the 
next  session  of  the  Legislature,  when  they  will  get  an  ex 
post  facto  law  passed,  as  they  have  done  before,  to  sanction 
their  illegal  doings.  It  may  therefore  be  possible  we  shall 
have  a  furnished  house  to  receive  our  friends  in,  till  next 
June." 

These  two  solitary  women,  who  have  not  a  relative  to 
defend  them,  seem  to  stand  on  so  firm  a  foundation  that  it 
requires,  to  put  them  down,  a  whole  State  and  all  the 
authority  of  a  town,  who  break  their  own  laws,  silence  the 
newspapers  from  speaking  of  them,  change   the   regular 


2  24  APPENDIX. 

court  judge,  and  no  doubt  will  pass  new  State  laws  against 
them ;  yev  they  have  not  succeeded  in  moving  them  from 
their  stronghold. 

The  cows  of  the  Smith  sisters  were  all  sold  to  pay  the 
taxes  on  property  owned  by  them,  and  the  town  authorities 
began  to  sell  their  land  piecemeal.  Julia's  account  of  the 
sale  of  the  cows  is  told  in  the  introduction  to  her  pamphlet 
on  the  subject.  There  were  seven  cows  in  all,  at  the  first 
sale  at  the  sign-post.  Of  these,  three  were  afterwards  dis- 
posed of.  The  four  others,  "  Daisy,  Whitey,  Minnie  and 
Proxy,  with  one  other,  have  been  driven  to  be  sold  at  the 
auction-block,  this  centennial  year."  A  calf  belonging  to 
Proxy,  came  while  the  mother  was  shut  up  for  a  forced  sale 
at  the  sign-post,  and  was  named  Martha  Washington. 
Another  calf  that  came  about  the  same  time  to  Whitey,  was 
called  Abigail  Adams.* 

The  new  speakers  at  the  Melrose  convention,  were  Hon. 
Samuel  E.  Sewall  and  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore. 

THE  CONCORD  CONVENTION 

Was  held  about  a  month  after  the  great  Centennial  Cele- 
bration of  April  19,  1875,  —  ^  celebration  in  which  no 
woman  belonging  to  that  town  took  any  official  part.  Nor 
was  there  any  place  of  honor  found  for  the  more  distin- 
guished women  who  had  come  long  distances  to  share  in 
the  festivities  of  the  day.  Some  of  the  women  present 
were  descendents  of  John  Hancock,  of  Benjamin  Franklin, 
of  Ezra  Riple^^,  of  Samuel  Prescott,  of  Thomas  Emerson, 
and  of  John  Cogswell. 

*  Retribution  followed  fast  in  the  track  of  the  town  officer  who  sold 
the  cows.  In  January,  1881,  Julia  E.  Smith,  in  a  letter  to  the  WotnaiCs 
Journal,  says, —  "  The  old  Collector,  Albert  Crane,  by  whom  our  cows 
have  been  seized  and  driven  to  the  sign-post  five  times,  was  not  re-elec- 
ted, as  the  Republicans  carried  the  day.  It  was  found  the  town  is 
likely  to  lose  some  thousands  of  dollars  by  him.  He  avers  that  some 
one  stole  his  Collector's  book  at  the  last  town-meeting,  and  he  cannot 
settle  with  the  town.  I  cannot  tell  who  believes  it.  I  am  not  surprised 
at  anything  he  says." 


APPENDIX.  225 

Though  no  seat  of  honor  in  the  big  tent  in  which  the 
speeches  were  made  was  given  to  the  women  of  to-day — 
silent  memorials  of  those  who  had  taken  part  in  the  events 
of  one  hundred  years  ago,  had  found  a  conspicuous  place 
there — the  scissors  that  cut  the  immortal  cartridges  made 
by  the  women  on  that  eventful  day,  and  the  ancient  flag 
that  the  fingers  of  some  of  the  mothers  of  the  Revolution 
had  made.  Though  the  Concord  women  were  not  permit- 
ted to  share  the  Centennial  honors,  they  were  not  deprived 
of  the  privilege  of  paying  their  part  of  the  expenses  inci- 
dent to  the  occasion.  To  meet  these,  an  increased  tax-rate 
was  assessed  upon  all  the  property  owners  in  the  town ; 
and,  since  one-fifth  of  the  town  tax  of  Concord  is  paid  by 
women,  it  will  be  easy  to  estimate  this  part  of  their  share 
in  the  great  Centennial  celebration  of  1876. 

The  knowledge  of  the  proceedings  at  Concord  added  new 
zest  to  the  spirit  of  the  three  conventions,  and  the  events 
of  the  day  were  used  by  the  speakers  to  point  the  moral  of 
the  Women's  Rights  question.  Lucy  Stone  made  one  of 
her  most  effective  and  eloquent  speeches  upon  this  subject. 
She  said: 

"  FelloV  citizens  (I  had  almost  said  fellow  subjects): 
What  we  need  is  that  women  should  feel  their  mean  posi- 
tion ;  when  that  happens,  they  will  soon  make  an  effort  to 
get  out  of  it.  Everything  is  possible  to  him  that  wills. 
All  that  is  needed  for  the  success  of  the  cause  of  woman 
suffrage  is  to  have  women  know  that  they  want  to  vote. 
The  law  in  this  State  classes  women,  children,  idiots  and 
criminals  together,  because  those  four  classes  are  not 
allowed  to  vote.  Concord  and  Lexington  got  into  a  fight 
about  the  Centennial,  and  Concord  voted  $10,000  for  the 
celebration  in  order  to  eclipse  Lexington.  One-fifth  of  the 
tax  of  Concord  is  paid  by  the  women,  yet  not  one  of  these 
women  dared  to  go  to  the  Town  Hall  and  cast  her  vote 
upon  that  subject.  This  is  exactly  the  same  thing  which 
took  place  one  hundred  years  ago,  taxation  without  repre- 
sentation, against  which  the  men  of  Concord  then  rebelled. 
15 


2  26  APPENDIX. 

If  I  were  an  inhabitant  of  Concord,  I  would  let  my  house 
be  sold  over  my  head  and  my  clothes  off  my  back  and' be 
hung  by  the  neck  before  I  would  pay  a  cent  of  it  1 

Men  of  Melrose,  Concord  and  Maiden,  why  persecute 
us  ?  Would  you  like  to  be  a  slave  ?  Would  you  like  to  be 
disfranchised?  Would  you  like  to  be  bound  to  respect  the 
laws  which  you  cannot  make  ?  There  are  fifteen  millions 
of  women  whom  the  Government  denies  legal  rights.  The 
consent  of  the  governed  is  necessary  to  a  just  government. 
Women  are  governed,  therefore  they  should  have  a  vote  in 
government.  Jeff.  Davis  was  deprived  of  his  right  to  vote. 
What  have  the  women  of  America  done  that  Jeff.  Davis 
should  be  their  peer  ?  Year  after  year  we  have  been  to  the 
State  House  and  pleaded  our  cause ;  this  year  the  com- 
mittee listened  to  us  and  gave  us  a  good  report,  but  we 
were  voted  down  without  a  word  in  our  defence  in  the 
Senate,  and.  only  secured  a  small  vote  in  the  House.  Half 
an  hour  was  spent  on  this  vital  subject,  and  the  members 
spent  four  times  that  length  of  time  on  considering  the 
size  of  a  "  barrel  of  cranberries  " ;  that  subject  they  were 
capable  of  grasping.  Women,  rally  together  and  select 
and  send  to  Congress  and  the  Legislature  the  men  who 
have  helped  you  and  will  truly  represent  you." 

Mrs.  Stone  then  traced  the  gradual  advancement  of 
women  from  a  state  of  legal  and  social  degradation  to  their 
present  position,  and  exhorted  the  women  to  learn  to  fight 
for  their  rights  both  by  argument  and  persuasion;  and 
ended  thus : 

"  The  fault,  dear  [sisters],  is  not  in  our  stars, 
But  in  ourselves,  that  we  are  underlings." 

The  Concord  Convention  was  well  attended;  and  among 
the  speakers  were  many  of  those  who  had  addressed  the 
Maiden  and  Melrose  conventions.  The  new  speakers  were 
Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  A.  Bronson  Alcott,  and  Elizabeth 
K.  Churchill. 

The  experience  of  the  Concord  women  at  the  Centennial 


APPENDIX.  227 

celebration  was  well  told  by  Miss  Louisa  M.  Alcott  in  a 
newspaper  article  written  at  the  time,  and  was  much  com- 
mented on  by  the  press.  To  people  who  only  knew  the 
town  by  its  great  reputation  as  a  literary  centre,  or  as  the 
place  from  which  the  first  and  longest  shot  was  fired  for 
freedom,  (immortalized  in  Mr.  Emerson's  verse),  such  a 
transaction  seemed  hardly  credible.  It  might  be  supposed 
that  a  spot  upon  which  the  battle  for  freedom  and  indepen- 
dence was  first  begun,  would  always  be  the  vantage  ground 
of  questions  relating  to  personal  liberty.  But  such  is  not 
the  fact.  For  instance.  Concord  was  never  an  anti-slavery 
town,  though  some  of  its  best  citizens  took  active  part  in 
all  the  abolition  movements.  When  the  time  came  that 
women  w^ere  allowed  to  vote  for  school  committees,  the  same 
intolerant  spirit  which  ignored  and  shut  them  out  of  the 
Centennial  celebration  was  again  manifested  toward  them, 
— not  only  by  the  leading  magnates  but  also  by  the  petty 
officials  of  the  town.  Some  of  these  have  from  the  first  shown 
a  great  deal  of  ingenuity  in  inventing  ways  to  intimidate 
and  mislead  the  women  voters.  The  men  voters  are  not  to 
blame  for  this  state  of  things  in  their  town,  except  that 
they  do  not  take  interest  enough  in  the  matter  to  insist  that 
the  women  voters  shall  be  fairly  and  respectfully  treated. 

The  town  of  Concord  has  been  crowned  with  many  well- 
deserved  honors. 

"  Tis  true, 
And  pity  'tis,  'tis  tiue," 

that  to  these  honors  must  be  added  this  unenviable  dis- 
tinction,— that  it  is  the  banner  town  for  snubbing  women 
voters  1 


228  APPENDIX. 

H. 

THE     WOMAN     SUFFRAGE     COMMEMORATIVE 
CONVENTION  IN  1880. 

At  its  annual  meeting  in  May  1880,  the  Massachusetts 
Woman  Suffrage  Association  voted  to  hold  a  Woman  Suf- 
frage Jubilee  Convention,  aiid  chose  the  following  named 
persons  as  a  committee  of  arrangements;  Lucy  Stone, 
Abby  Kelley  Foster,  Thomas  J.  Lothrop,  Timothy  K. 
Earle,  Sarah  E.  Wall,  Harriet  H.  Robinson  and  E.  H. 
Church. 

Members  of  this  committee  made  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments, and  at  the  appointed  time  the  friends  gathered  at 
Worcester.  There  were  present  not  only  old  workers,  but 
also  young  and  ardent  suffragists,  who  had  come  to  see 
those  whose  silver  hairs  told  of  long  and  faithful  service. 
Athol,  Boston,  Haverhill,  Leicester,  Leominster,  Lowell, 
Maiden,  Melrose,  Milford,  North  Brookfield,  Taunton,  and 
many  other  Massachusetts  towns  were  well  represented. 
Suffragists  from  other  states  were  also  there,  and  letters 
were  read  from  far  away  old  friends,  and  those  near,  who 
were  unable  to  be  present.  The  oldest  ladies  there  were 
Mrs.  Lydia  Brown  of  Lynn,  Mrs.  Wilbour  of  Worcester, 
and  Julia  E.  "Smith  Parker  of  Glastonbury,  Connecticut. 
On  the  afternoon  of  the  first  day  there  was  an  informal 
gathering  of  friends  in  the  ante-room  of  Horticultural  Hall 
in  Worcester,  and  the  congratulations  and  glad  recognition 
of  old  acquaintances  were  very  pleasant  to  behold.  Old 
time  memories  were  recalled  by  those  who  had  not  seen 
each  other  for  many  years,  and  the  common  salutation  was : 
"How  gray  you've  grown  1"  Many  of  them  had  indeed 
grown  gray  in  the  service,  and  their  faces  were  changed, 
but  made  beautiful  by  a  life  devoted  to  a  noble  purpose. 

There  were  many  present  who  had  attended  the  conven- 
tion of  thirty  years  ago.  Abby  Kelley  Foster,  Lucy  Stqne, 
Antoinette  Brown  Blackwell,  Paulina  Gerry  (whose  careful 


APPENDIX.  229 

preservation  of  Woman's  Rights  documents  has  made  the 
writing  of  this  history  possible),  Dr.  Martha  H.  Mowry, 
Rev.  Samuel  May,  Rev.  W.  H.  Channing,  Joseph  A. 
Rowland,  Adeline  H.  Rowland  and  many,  many  others. 
It  was  very  pleasant  indeed  to  hear  these  veterans,  whose 
clear  voices  have  spoken  out  so  long  and  so  bravely  for  the 
cause, — William  H.  Channing,  who,  fresh  from  Phigland, 
brought  the  good  word  concerning  the  movement  in  the 
mother  country ;  Lucy  Stone,  whose  "  silvery  voice  "  rose 
just  as  it  did  thirty  years  ago,  and  whose  heart,  as  of  old, 
was  young  and  "  warm  with  enthusiasm "  for  woman's 
rights;  Antoinette  Brown  Blackwell,  still  "beautiful "  and 
"orthodox;"  and  Samuel  May,  always  effective  in  speech, 
and  on  the  right  side  in  all  reforms. 

Abby  Kelley  Foster  too  was  there,  feeble  with  declining 
years,  but  ever  the  '*  gentle  hero,"  with  the  old  fire  of  anti- 
slavery  times  still  burning  within  her.  In  one  part  of  her 
speech  she  had  accused  the  men  of  being  to  blame  for  the 
political  disfranchisement  of  women;  and,  turning  suddenly 
to  Mr.  T.  W.  Higginson,  (who  sat  near  her  on  the  platform) 
she  shook  her  finger  at  him  and  said :  "  You  are  my  enslaver !  " 
Mr.  Higginson  took  the  accusation  cheerfully,  and  the 
audience  were  delighted  at  the  little  scene.  It  reminded 
some  of  the  more  belligerent  among  them  of  the  early  times 
in  the  history  of  the  cause,  when  the  "  figTit  "  in  Massa- 
chusetts was  more  aggressive  than  it  has  since  become. 
The  speaking  at  all  the  sessions  was  excellent,  and  the 
spirit  of  the  Convention  was  very  reverent  and  hopeful. 

The  tone  of  the  press  concerning  woman's  rights  meet- 
ings had  changed  greatly  since  thirty  years  ago.  "  Hen 
conventions "  had  gone  by,  and  a  woman's  meeting  was 
now  called  by  its  proper  name.  Representatives  of  lead- 
ing newspapers  from  all  parts  of  the  State  were  present, 
and  the  reports  were  written  in  a  most  just  and  friendly 
spirit.  The  Worcester  press  was  particularly  hospitable, 
and  advertised  the  meetings  gratuitously.  The  Spy  said : 
"The  convention  is  one  of  the  best  the  women  have  ever 
held  in  Worcester." 


230  APPENDIX. 

I. 

SUMMARY    OF   VOTING    LAWS    RELATING   TO 
WOMEN,  FROiM  1691  TO  1822. 

Province  Charter,  A,  D.  1691,  3d  year  of  William  and 
Mary. — "  The  great  and  general  Court  shall  consist  of  the 
Governor  and  Council  (or  assistants  for  the  time  being)  and 
of  such  freeholders  as  shall  be,  from  time  to  time,  elected 
or  deputed  by  the  major  part  of  the  freeholders  and  other 
inhabitants  of  the  respective  towns  or  places,  who  shall  be 
present  at  such  elections." 

Constitution,  1820,  Part  ii.  Chap,  i.  Sect,  ii.  Art.  ii,  gives 
the  right  of  voting  for  Senators  and  Councillors  to  every 
ma/e  inhabitant  21  years  of  age,  having  a  freehold  estate  in 
the  Comvio7iwealth  of  the  annual  income  of  ;(^3,  or  any 
estate  of  the  value  of  £(iO.^  (Motion  in  Constitutional 
Convention  to  strike  out  the  word  male). 

Constitution,  Part  ii.  Chap,  i.  Sect.  in.  Art.  iv. — Qualifi- 
cation for  a  voter  for  Representatives,  varies  from  the 
above  by  requiring  that  the  voter  shall  own  a  freehold 
estate  within  the  town  where  he  resides.  (Motion  in  Con- 
stitutional Convention  to  strike  out  the  word  male). 

Constitution,  Part  ii,  Chap.  2,  Sect,  i,  Art.  ill,  also 
Sect.  II.  Art.  i. — The  persons  who  can  vote  for  Senators  or 
Representatives,  can  vote  for  Governor  and  Lieut.  Gov- 
ernor. (Motion  in  Constitutional  Convention  to  strike  out 
the  word  male). 

Constitution,  Part  ii,  Chap,  i.  Sect,  i.  Art.  iv. — The 
Legislature  has  power  to  name  and  settle  annually,  or  pro- 
vide by  fixed  laws  for  the  naming  and  settling,  all  civil 
officers  within  said  Commonwealth,  the  election  and  consti- 
tution of  whom  are  not  hereafter  in  this  form  of  government 
otherwise  provided. 

By  Statute,  1785,  Chap.  75,  Sect.  II,  passed  March  23, 

*  Property  representation  for  Senators  was  abolished  in  1840. 


APPENDIX.  231 

1786. — Town  officers  are  to  be  chosen  by  the  freeholders 
and  other  inhabitants  of  each  town  who  shall  pay  to  one 
single  tax,  besides  the  poll-tax,  a  sum  equal  to  two-thirds  of 
a  single  poll-tax.  The  selectmen  are  only  required  to  be 
inhabitants  of  the  town — not  required  to  be  voters. 

Statute,  1809,  Chap.  25,  Sects,  ii.  and  in.,  allows  any 
persons  who  are  inhabitants  of  the  towns,  and  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  who  have  paid  taxes  within  a  town  for 
two  years,  to  vote  for  town  officers. 

Statute,  1809,  Chap.  39,  repeals  the  foregoing. 

Statute,  181  i,  Chap.  9,  Sect,  i.,  allows  qvcxj  male  citi- 
zen of  the  Commonwealth,  21  years  of  age,  liable  to  be 
taxed,  who  has  resided  one  year  in  any  town,  to  vote  in  the 
election  of  all  town  officers. 

Constitutional  Amendment,  1820. — Regulates  the  right  of 
voting  for  Governor,  Representatives,  etc. 

Statute,  1822,  Chap.  104,  Sect.  i. — The  same  regulation 
was  adopted  in  regard  to  voting  at  town  meetings,  as  in 
regard  to  all  other  State  officers. 

SUMMARY. 

1.  Women  were  not  excluded  from  voting  from  1691  to 
1780. 

2.  Women  were  excluded  from  voting  only  for  certain 
offices  from  1780  to  1785. 

3.  Three  distinct  sets  of  qualifications  for  voting  till  1820. 

4.  Two  distinct  sets  of  qualifications  for  voting  till  1822. 

5.  Qualifications  for  voting  for  town  officers  more  liberal 
than  for  Governor  and  Legislature. 

6.  Qualifications  for  voting  for  all  State,  county  and  town 
officers,  were  first  made  uniform  by  Statute  in  1822,  and 
may  be  again  enlarged  by  Statute,  except  where  specified 
in  the  Constitution. 


232  APPENDIX. 


EARLY  LEGISLATIVE  HEARINGS  ON  WOMAN'S 
RIGHTS.  MARY  U.  FERRIN.  REV.  OLYMPIA 
BROWN. 

The  first  Hearing  on  the  question  of  woman's  rights  in 
Massachusetts,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn,  was 
before  the  Committee  on  the  Qualifications  of  Voters,  of 
the  Constitutional  Convention,  June  3,  1853.  This  Hear- 
ing was  held  in  answer  to  the  2,000  petitioners,  who  had 
asked  for  the  recognition  of  woman's  legal  and  property 
rights  in  the  proposed  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  state.  The  Committee  was  addressed  by  Lucy  Stone, 
Theodore  Parker,  Wendell  Phillips  and  Thomas  W.  Hig- 
ginson.  An  appeal  to  the  citizens  of  Massachusetts,  from 
the  petitioners,  had  been  issued  in  April  1853,  in  which 
woman's  right  to  property  and  political  equality  was  ably 
presented.  This  appeal  was  signed  by  Abby  May  Alcott, 
Abby  Kelley  Foster,  Lucy  Stone,  Thomas  W.  Higginson, 
Anne  Greene  Phillips,  Wendell  Phillips,  Anna  Q.  T. 
Parsons,  Theodore  Parker,  William  I.  Bowditch,  Samuel  E. 
Sewall,  Ellis  Gray  Loring,  Charles  K.  Whipple,  William 
Lloyd  Garrison,  Harriot  K.  Hunt,  Thomas  T.  Stone,  John 
W.  Browne,  Francis  Jackson,  Josiah  F.  Flagg,  Mary  Flagg, 
Elizabeth  Smith,  Eliza  Barney,  Abby  H.  Price,  William  C. 
Nell,  Samuel  May  Jr.,  Robert  F.  Walcott,  Robert  Morris 
and  A.  Bronson  Alcott.* 

In  1857  a  Hearing  was  held  before  the  Committee  on 
the  Judiciary  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  to  listen  to 


*  From  the  Una,  a  woman's  paper  published  in  Providence,  R.  I., 
in  1853.  The  editor  of  this  paper  was  Paulina  Wright  Davis.  Its 
chief  contributor  was  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton.  Among  its  correspon- 
dents were  Caroline  H.  Dall,  Lucy  Stone,  Elizabeth  P.  Peabody, 
Thomas  W.  Higginson,  Ednah  D.  Cheney  and  other  Massachusetts 
writers.  See  "The  History  of  Woman  Suffrage."  Stanton,  Anthony, 
and  Gage,  Editors.     New  York :    Fowler  and  Wells. 


APPENDIX.  233 

arguments  in  favor  of  the  petition  of  Lucy  Stone  and 
others  for  equal  property  rights  for  women  and  for  the 
"right  of  suffrage."  The  Representatives'  Hall  was  well 
filled  with  interested  listeners;  Rev.  James  Freeman 
Clarke,  Wendell  Phillips  and  Lucy  Stone  made  eloquent 
speeches. 

Another  Hearing  was  held  in  the  same  place  in  February, 
1858,  before  the  Joint  Special  Committee  on  the  Qualifica- 
tions of  Voters.  In  one  of  "  Warrington's  "  letters  to  the 
Nezo  York  Trilume  the  following  account  of  this  Hearing 
is  given :  "  Among  the  speakers  were  Mr.  Phillips,  Mr. 
Samuel  E  Sewall,  Harriot  K.  Hunt,  M.  D.,  and  others. 
The  Committee  aforesaid  were  giving  a  hearing  to  the  peti- 
tioners for  the  extension  of  the  right  of  suffrage  to  women. 
One  of  the  petitioners  is  Sarah  E.  Wall  of  Worcester,  who, 
like  Dr.  Hunt  and  Lucy  Stone,  is  a  'taxpayer,'  and  who 
now  petitions  the  Legislature,  as  she  says,  'for  the  third 
and  last  time,'  in  behalf  of  the  great  principle  that  taxation 
and  representation  are  inseparable.  She  argues  the  ques- 
tion, and  winds  up  by  saying: 

'  We  do  not  expect  to  remedy  all  the  evils  of  society,  or 
that  the  defects  of  woman  will  be  speedily  corrected;  she 
will  commit  her  follies  still,  as  man  does ;  she  will  some- 
times make  a  mistake  in  voting,  as  many  wise  men  have 
done ;  but  with  all  her  follies,  and  all  her  mistakes,  she 
cannot  possibly  bring  on  the  country  a  more  perverted  state 
of  the  moral  atmosphere  than  the  present,  or  a  worse  finan- 
cial crisis  than  that  through  which  we  are  now  passing. 
We  do  not  send  our  petitions  to  you  year  after  year,  merely 
for  you  to  report  "  leave  to  withdraw;  "  we  demand  action, 
immediate  action.  If  it  cannot  be  done  in  the  name  of 
affection,  in  the  name  of  justice  it  j?i2ist  be  done.  If,  in 
the  absence  of  every  argument,  after  the  removal  of  every 
objection,  you  still  persist  in  refusing  her  appeal,  but  one 
step  remains  for  her  to  take,  and  that  is,  to  refuse  to  pay 
taxes,  and  she  will  do  it.' 

Dr.  Hunt  gave  the  Committee,  and  the  men  generally,  a 


234  APPENDIX. 

'piece  of  her  mind'  on  the  subjects  of  taxation,  educa- 
tion, voting,  tobacco,  sending  silly  boys  to  College  and 
making  sensible  girls  fold  their  hands  in  despair  at  home, 
and  so  on.  In  reply  to  a  question  by  the  Chairman,  as  to 
the  reason  why  so  few  women  had  asked  for  the  right  of 
suffrage,  she  made  the  pertinent  inquiry,  if  women  who 
were  choked  could  be  expected  to  breathe? 

Mr.  Phillips,  in  opening  his  speech,  said  woman's  influ- 
ence ought  to  be  recognized.  She  exerts  her  due  share  of 
power,  but  this  power  is  irresponsible.  All  unseen  power 
is  dangerous.  The  whole  question  was  in  fact  yielded 
when  the  schools  were  opened.  The  Turk  says,  woman 
has  no  soul;  books,  thoughts,  do  not  belong  to  her;  they 
keep  iier  in  the  harem.  But  Western  Europe  recognizes 
her  mii;d,  but  it  there  stops  at  an  artificial  barrier.  Men 
were  so  stopped  when  they  asked  to  be  allowed  to  vote, 
and  the  struggle  is  now  going  on  for  that  right.  We  ask 
you  to  reform  symmetrically.  Voting  follows  property. 
When  property  went  to  the  middle  classes,  they  overthrew 
the  thrones.  Our  fathers  said  women  should  not  have 
property.  But  all  this  is  changed.  When  you  made  the 
change  in  the  laws  as  to  property,  you  granted  all  that  we 
asked.  Do  you  say  that  woman  has  not  sufficient  ability  to 
vote  ?  You  don't  vote  on  ability.  Webster  has  not  a 
hundred  votes  and  the  inferior  man  one.  All  are  alike. 
If  woman  has  ability  enough  to  entitle  her  to  be  tried,  and 
to  be  sent  to  prison,  she  has  ability  enough  to  vote.  If  she 
has  not  ability  enough  to  make  laws,  she  has  not  enough 
to  be  punished  for  breaking  them. 

Brougham  has  said,  within  a  year,  that  the  legislation  of 
England  in  relation  to  woman  is  a  disgrace  to  the  statute- 
book  of  any  country.  We  don't  care  what  woman's  ability 
is ;  we  cannot  know  until  the  field  is  opened  to  her.  She 
has  the  same  qualities  of  mind  as  large  classes  of  men.  So 
long  as  government  takes  from  woman  a  part  of  her  labor 
in  taxes,  it  is  bound  to  place  in  her  hands  the  ballot.  There 
is  no  ground  of  opposition  to  this  claim  but  the  ground  of 


APPENDIX.  235 

sex.  But  the  Constitution  is  not  based  on  sex.  Every  act 
of  legislation  for  twenty  years  goes  to  break  down  this  dis- 
tinction. When  woman  has  a  ballot,  the  selfishness  of  the 
world  will  recognize  and  educate  her;  wealth  will  hasten  to 
make  her  intelligent  for  its  own  security.  Then  when  she 
wants  to  enter  some  new  field  of  toil  she  can  do  so.  Recog- 
nized as  a  voter,  she  can  go  anywhere.  Look  at  the  ques- 
tion of  the  vice  of  cities.  How  can  you  reach  it  while 
woman  is  under  the  foot  of  man?  You  confine  her  to  the 
mill  or  the  shop;  you  starve  her  by  competition;  and  when 
the  crisis  comes  40,000  women  seek  the  pavements  with  no 
bread,  and  then  men  say  they  are  licentious.  But  who  is 
to  blame.?  Let  woman  be  a  doctor,  a  lawyer,  an  engraver, 
a  teacher,  and  she  will  be  subject  to  no  more  competition 
than  man.  Then  this  vast  mass  of  festering  corruption 
will  be  taken  gently  away  by  the  law-s  of  trade  and  nature. 
We  shall  get  this  finally;  step  by  step  the  reform  goes  for- 
ward ;  but  we  ask  a  symmetrical  reform.  The  question  is, 
how  soon  will  you  decently  surrender  ?  Give  us  leave  to 
present  the  question  to  the  people  in  their  primary  assem- 
blies. You  can't  decide  questions  of  intellect  and  races. 
The  Constitution  knows  nothing  of  these  things.  It  only 
recognizes  sentient,  tax-paying  beings.  It  is  the  old  ques- 
tion of  the  oppressed  asking  the  oppressor  to  relinquish 
his  power.  The  Jew  asked  it';  the  Dissenter  asked  it;  the 
Chartist  is  asking  it,  and  woman  is  here  asking  it.  It  is 
the  last  great  protest  of  one  half  the  human  race  against 
injustice.  Mr.  Phillips  made  a  very  beautiful  speech.  It 
was  one  of  his  easy,  rivulet  like  efforts,  which  charm  rather 
than  thrill  you." 

A  second  Hearing  on  the  right  of  suffrage  for  women 
was  held  the  following  week  before  the  same  committee. 
Thomas  W.  Higginson  made  an  address  and  Caroline 
Healey  Dall  read  an  essay  "  which,"  wrote  "  Warrington," 
"  was  not  only  very  eloquently  written  but,  in  which  also, 
the  question  was  very  ably  argued." 

In   1858,   Stephen  A.   Chase   of   vSalem   from  the  same 


22,^  APPENDIX. 

Committee,  on  the  Qualifications  of  Voters,  made  a  long 
report  on  the  petitions  which  had  been  presented  for  extend- 
ing the  right  of  suffrage  to  women.  This  report  closed  with 
an  order  that  the  State  Board  of  Education  make  inquiry 
and  report  to  the  next  Legislature,  "  whether  it  is  not  prac- 
ticable and  expedient  to  provide  by  law  some  method  by 
which  the  women  of  this  State  may  have  a  more  active  part 
in  the  control  and  management  of  the  schools."  There  is 
nothing'in  legislative  records  to  show  that  the  State  Board 
of  Education  reported  favorably.  But  the  above  statement 
shows  that  ten  years  before  Samuel  E.  Sewall's  petition  on 
the  subject,  a  movement  was  made  towards  making  women 
legally  "eligible  to  serve  as  members  of  School  Commit- 
tees." 

Since  1849,  when  the  first  petition  for  woman  suffrage  was 
presented  to  the  Legislature,  a  great  deal  of  hard  work  had 
been  done  every  year  in  circulating  petitions  for  this  cause. 
These  petitions  were  usually  carried  about  by  women  who 
went  from  house  to  house  to  get  the  names  of  signers;  and 
they  were  often  snubbed  for  their  pains  by  their  neighbors 
and  townsmen,  and  hooted  at  as  an  "old  woman's  rights  " 
by  the  boys  in  the  streets.  These  devoted  women  did  the 
drudgery,  endured  the  hardships,  and  suffered  the  humilia- 
tions attendant  upon  the  early  history  of  our  cause ;  but 
their  names  are  forgotten,  and  we,  the  eleventh  hour  people, 
reap  the  benefit  of  their  labors.  These  silent  workers 
were  so  modest  and  so  anxious  for  the  success  of  their 
petitions,  that  they  never  put  their  own  names  at  the  head 
of  the  list,  but  rather  secured  that  of  some  leading  person, 
so  that  others  seeing  his  name  might  be  induced  to  follow 
his  example.  In  legislative  documents  a  petition  is 
recorded  as,  "The  petition  of  John  Smith  and  [so  many] 
others."  Thus  it  happens  that  "John  Smith,"  who  perhaps 
cared  very  little  about  the  thing  petitioned  for,  is  the  only 
nam.e  to  be  found  in  the  records,  while  "  Mary  Jones,"  who 
circulated  the  petition  and  is  deeply  interested  in  the  cause 
it  represents,  is  irretrievably  lost  among  the  "  others." 


APPENDIX.  237 

Among  the  earliest  of  these  silent  workers  for  the  woman's 
rights  cause  may  be  mentioned  Mary  Upton  Ferrin.  In  the 
"  History  of  Woman  Suffrage  "  she  is  spoken  of  as  follows: 
"The  first  change  in  the  tyrannous  laws  of  Massachusetts 
was  really  due  to  the  work  of  this  one  woman,  Mary  Upton 
Ferrin,  who  for  six  years,  after  her  own  quaint  method, 
poured  the  hot  shot  of  her  earnest  conviction  of  woman's 
wrongs  into  the  Legislature.  In  circulating  petitions,  she 
travelled  six  hundred  miles,  two  thirds  of  this  distance  on 
foot.  Much,  money  was  expended  besides  her  time  and 
travel,  and  her  name  should  be  remembered  as  that  of  one 
of  the  brave  pioneers  of  the  work."  Mrs.  Ferrin's  petitions 
were  for  a  change  in  the  laws  concerning  the  property  rights 
of  married  women,  and  for  the  political  and  legal  rights  of 
all  women. 

In  1849  she  prepared  a  memorial  to  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature  in  which  are  embodied  many  of  the  demands 
for  woman's  equality  before  the  law,  which  have  so  often 
been  made  to  that  body  since  that  time.  This  memorial 
was  printed  by  order  of  the  Legislature  (Leg.  Doc.  Ho.  57) 
and  is  called,  "  Memorial  of  the  female  signers  of  the 
several  petitions  of  Henry  A.  Hardy  and  others,"  pre- 
sented March  i,  1849.  The  document  is  not  signed,  and 
Mrs.  Ferrin's  name  is  not  found  with  it  upon  the  records ; 
neither  does  her  name  appear  in  the  Journals  of  the  House 
in  connection  with  any  of  ihe  petitions  and  addresses  she 
caused  to  be  presented  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State. 
For  this  reason,  and  because  I  had  never  heard  of  her  name 
in  connection  with  suffrage  work,  it  unfortunately  happens 
that  it  is  not  recorded  in  its  proper  place,  in  the  text  of 
this  book.  But  for  the  loyal  friendship  of  the  few  who 
knew  of  her  work  and  were  willing  to  give  her  due  credit, 
the  name  of  Mary  Upton  Ferrin  and  the  memory  of  her 
labors  would  have  gone  with  her  into  the  "  great  darkness." 

There  may  be  other  early  workers  whose  names  or  record 
I  have  been  unable  to  obtain,  and  I  will  say  here,  to  those 
who  read  this  book,  that  if  they  have  facts  worthy  of  pres* 


238  APPENDIX. 

ervation  in  connection  with  the  early  suffrage  work  in  this 
State,  I  shall  be  glad  to  receive  them  and  will  preserve 
them  for  the  use  of  future  historians. 

Whiie  writing  these  very  lines  I  received  a  letter  from 
Rev.  Olympia  Brown,  containing  the  facts  relating  to  the 
inception  of  the  New  England  Woman  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion.    Mrs.  Brown  writes : 

"  After  my  return  from  Kansas  in  '67, 1  felt  that  we  ought 
to  do  something  for  the  cause  in  Massachusetts.  There 
was  at  that  time  no  organization  in  the  State,  and  there 
had  been  no  revival  of  the  subject  in  the  minds  of  the 
people  since  the  war,  which  had  swallowed  up  every  other 
interest.  In  the  spring  of  '6S,  I  wrote  to  Abby  Kelley 
Foster,  telling  her  my  wish  to  have  something  done  in  our 
own  State,  and  she  advised  me  to  call  together  a  few 
persons  known  to  be  in  favor  of  suffrage  some  day  during 
anniversary  week,  in  some  parlor  in  Boston.  I  corres- 
ponded with  Adin  Ballou,  E.  D.  Draper  and  others  on 
the  subject  and  talked  the  matter  over  with  Prof.  T.  T. 
Leonard,  teacher  of  elocution,  who  offered  his  hall  for  a 
place  of  meeting.  I  wrote  a  notice  inviting  all  persons 
interested  in  woman  suffrage  to  come  to  Mr.  Leonard's 
Hall,  on  a  certain  day  and  hour.  At  the  time  appointed 
the  hall  was  full  of  people.  I  opened  the  meeting,  and 
stated  why  I  had  called  it,  others  took  up  the  theme,  we 
had  many  impromptu  speeches,  and  we  had  a  lively  meeting. 
All  agreed  that  something  should  be  done,  and  a  committee 
of  seven  was  appointed  to  call  a  convention  for  the  pur- 
pose of  organizing  a  woman  suffrage  association.  Caro- 
line M.  Severance,  Stephen  S.Foster,  Miss  Southwick  and 
myself,  were  of  this  committee.  I  do  not  remember  the 
other  names. 

We  held  a  number  of  meetings  and  finally  decided  to 
call  a  convention  early  in  the  autumn  of  1868.  This  con- 
vention was  held  in  Horticultural  Hall,  and  the  result  was 
the  organization  of  the  New  England  Woman  Suffrage 
Association." 


APPENDIX.  239 

K. 

AN  ACT  TO  GIVE  WOMEN  THE  RIGHT  TO  VOTE 
FOR  MEMBERS  OF  SCHOOL  COMMITTEES. 

Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  as  folloius : 

Sect.  i.  Every  woman  who  is  a  citizen  of  this  Com- 
monwealth, of  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  upwards,  and 
has  the  educational  qualifications  required  by  the  twentieth 
article  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  excepting 
paupers  and  persons  under  guardianship,  who  shall  have 
resided  within  this  Commonwealth  one  year  and  within  the 
city  or  town  in  which  she  claims  the  right  to  vote  six 
months  next  preceding  any  meeting  of  citizens  either  in 
wards  or  in  general  meeting  for  municipal  purposes,  and 
who  shall  have  paid  by  herself,  or  her  parent,  or  guardian, 
a  state  or  county  tax,  which  within  two  years  next  preced- 
ing such  meeting  has  been  assessed  upon  her  in  any  city  or 
town,  shall  have  a  right  to  vote  at  such  town  or  city  meet- 
ing, for  members  of  school  committees. 

Sect.  2.  Any  female  citizen  of  this  Commonwealth 
may,  on  or  before  the  fifteenth  day  of  September  in  any 
year,  give  notice  in  writing  to  the  assessors  of  any  city  or 
town,  accompanied  by  satisfactory  evidence,  that  she  was 
on  the  first  day  of  May  of  that  year  an  inhabitant  thereof 
and  that  she  desires  to  pay  a  poll  tax  and  furnish  under 
oath  a  true  list  of  her  estate,  both  real  and  personal,  and 
she  shall  thereupon  be  assessed  for  her  poll  and  estate, 
and  the  assessors  shall,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  Octo- 
ber in  each  year,  return  her  name  to  the  clerk  of  the  city  or 
town  in  the  list  of  the  persons  so  assessed.  The  taxes  so 
assessed  shall  be  entered  in  the  tax  list  of  the  collector  of 
the  city  or  town,  and  the  collector  shall  collect  and  pay 
over  the  same  in  the  manner  sjDCcified  in  his  warrant. 

Sect.  3.  All  laws  in  relation  to  the  registration  of  voters 
shall  apply  to  women  upon  whom  the  right  to  vote  is  herein 


240  APPENDIX. 

conferred,  provided  that  the  names  of  such  women  shall  be 
placed  on  a  separate  list. 

Sect.  4.  The  mayor  and  aldermen  of  cities  and  the 
selectmen  of  towns  may  in  their  discretion  appoint  and 
notify  a  separate  day  for  the  election  of  school  committees : 
provided,  that  such  meeting  shall  be  held  in  the  same  month 
in  which  the  annual  town  meeting  or  the  municipal  election 
occurs.     {App'oved  Apj-il  l6,  1S79.] 

THE  ACT- AS  AMENDED   IN    1881. 

Be  it  enacted  etc.,  as  follows: 

Sect.  i.  Every  woman  w^ho  is  a  citizen  of  this  Common- 
wealth, of  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  upwards,  and  has 
the  educational  qualifications  required  by  the  twentieth 
article  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  excepting 
paupers  and  persons  under  guardianship,  who  shall  have 
resided  within  this  Commonwealth  one  year,  and  within  the 
city  or  town  in  which  she  claims  the  right  to  vote  six 
months  next  preceding  any  meeting  of  citizens,  either  in 
wards  or  in  general  meeting  for  municipal  purposes,  and 
who  shall  have  paid,  by  herself,  or  her  parent,  guardian,  or 
trustee,  a  state,  county,  city,  or  town  tax  which,  within  two 
years  next  preceding  such  meeting  has  been  assessed  upon 
her  or  her  trustees,  in  any  city  or  town,  shall  have  a  right 
to  vote,  at  such  town  or  city  meeting,  for  members  of 
school  committees. 

Sect.  2.  Any  woman  who  is  a  citizen  of  this  Common- 
wealth may,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  October  in  any 
year,  give  notice  in  writing  to  the  assessors  of  any  city  or 
town,  accompanied  by  satisfactory  evidence,  that  she  was, 
on  the  first  of  May  of  that  year,  an  inhabitant  thereof, 
and  that  she  desires  to  pay  a  poll  tax,  and  furnish,  under 
oath,  a  true  list  of  her  estate,  both  real  and  personal,  not 
exempt  from  taxation,  and  she  shall  thereupon  be  assessed 
for  her  poll,  not  exceeding  fifty  cents,  and  for  her  estate  ; 
and  the  assessors  shall,  on  or  before  the  fifth  day  of  Octo- 
ber, in  each  year,  return  her  name  to  the  clerk  of  the  city  or 


APPENDIX.  241 

town  in  the  list  of  the  persons  so  assessed.  The  taxes  so 
assessed  shall  be  entered  in  the  tax-list  of  the  collector  of 
the  city  or  town,  and  the  collector  shall  collect  and  pay 
over  the  same  in  the  manner  specified  in  his  warrant. 

Sect.  3.  All  laws  in  relation  to  the  registration  of  voters 
shall  apply  to  women  upon  whom  the  right  to  vote  is 
herein  conferred ;  provided,  that  the  names  of  such  women 
may  be  placed  upon  a  separate  list,  and  when  the  name  of 
any  woman  has  been  placed  on  the  voting  list  of  any  city  or 
town,  it  shall  continue  on  the  list  of  said  city  or  town  as 
long  as  she  continues  to  reside  there,  and  to  pay  any  state 
or  county,  city,  or  town  tax  that  has  been  assessed  on  her 
or  her  trustee  in  any  city  or  town  in  the  Commonwealth 
within  two  years  previous  to  any  voting  day. 

Sect.  4.  All  acts  and  parts  of  acts  inconsistent  here- 
with are  hereby  repealed. 

Sect.  5.     This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  its  passage. 


L. 


THREE  DECISIONS  OF  THE  SUPREME  JUDICIAL 
COURT  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  AGAINST  THE 
RIGHTS  OF  THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  COMMON 
WEALTH. 

The  first^  decision  was  in  the  case  of  Sarah  E.  Wall  of 
Worcester,  who  had  refused  to  pay  her  taxes  under  the 
following  protest : 

"  Believing  with  the  immortal  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence that  taxation  and  representation  are  inseparable ; 
believing  that  the  Constitution  of  the  State  furnishes  no 
authority  for  the  taxation  of  woman ;  believing  also  that 
the  Constitution  of  the  higher  law  of  God,  written  on  the 
16 


242  APPENDIX. 

human  soul,  requires  us,  if  we  would  be  worthy  the  rich 
inheritance  of  the  past  and  true  to  ourselves  and  the  future, 
to  yield  obedience  to  no  statute  that  shall  tend  to  fetter  its 
aspirations,  I  shall  henceforth  pay  no  taxes  until  the  word 
male  is  stricken  from  the  voting  clauses  of  the  Constitution 
of  Massachusetts. 

Sarah  E.  Wall. 
Worcester  Daily  Spy,  Oct.  5.  1858. 

Miss  Wall  was  prosecuted  by  the  city  collector,  and  she 
carried  her  case  before  the  Supreme  Court,  where  she 
appeared  for  herself,  W.  A.  Williams  appearing  for  the 
collector.  In  a  written  account  of  this  matter  in  1S81, 
Miss  Wall  says:  "Although  it  was  in  185S  that  my  resist- 
ance to  taxation  commenced,  it  was  not  until  1863  that  the 
contest  terminated  and  the  decision  was  rendered.  I  think 
the  Supreme  Court  would  always  find  some  way  to  evade 
a  decision  on  this  question." 

"  Wheeler  vs.  Wall,  6  Allen,  5 58. 

"  By  the  Constitution  of  Massachusetts,  c.  i,  §  i,  article  4, 
the  Legislature  has  power  to  impose  taxes  upon  all  the 
inhabitants  of  and  persons  resident,  and  estates  lying 
within  the  said  Commonwealth.  By  the  laws  passed  by  the 
Legislature  in  pursuance  of  this  power  and  authority,  the- 
defendant  is  liable  to  taxation,  although  she  is  not  qualified 
to  vote  fur  the  officers  by  whom  the  taxes  were  assessed. 

"The  Court,  acting  under  the  Constitution,  and  bound 
to  support  it  and  maintain  its  provisions  faithfully,  cannot 
declare  null  and  void  a  statute  which  has  been  passed  by 
the  Legislature,  in  pursuance  of  an  express  authority  con- 
ferred by  the  Constitution."  (Opinion  by  the  Chief  Justice, 
George  Tyler  Bigelow). 

The  second  decision  on  the  will  of  Francis  Jackson,  is 
copied  verbatim  from  Allen's  Reports. 

"Jackson  vs.  Phillips  and  others,  14  Allen,  539. 
"  A  bequest  to  trustees,  to  be  expended  at  their  discre- 


APPENDIX.  243 

tion,  *  in  such  sums,  at  such  times  and  such  places  as  they 
deem  best,  for  the  preparation  and  circulation  of  books, 
newspapers,  the  delivery  of  speeches,  lectures  and  such 
other  means  as  in  their  judgment  will  create  a  public  senti- 
ment that  will  put  an  end  to  negro  slavery  in  this  country,' 
was  a  legal  charity  before  slavery  was  abolished  in  the 
United  States. 

**  A  bequest  to  trustees,  to  be  expended  at  their  discre- 
tion 'for  the  benefit  of  fugitive  slaves  who  may  escape  from 
the  slavcholding  states  of  this  infamous  Union,  from  time 
to  time,'  might,  before  slavery  was  abolished  in  the  United 
States,  be  lawfully  applied,  consistently  with  the  expressed 
intention  of  the  testator,  to  the  relief  of  fugitive  slaves  in 
distress,  or  the  extinguishment  by  purchase  of  the  claims  of 
those  alleging  themselves  to  be  their  masters,  and  was  a 
legal  charity. 

"  A  bequest  to  trustees  '  to  secure  the  passage  of  laws 
granting  women,  whether  married  or  unmarried,  the  right 
to  vote,  to  hold  office,  to  hold,  manage  and  devise  property, 
and  all  other  civil  rights  enjoyed  by  men,'  is  not  a  charity." 

"Bill  in  equity  by  the  executor  of  the  will  of  Francis 
Jackson,  of  Boston,  for  instructions  as  to  the  validity 
and  effect  of  the  following  bequests  and  devises : 
"Art.  6th.  'I  give  and  bequeath  to  Wendell  Phillips  of 
said  Boston,  Lucy  Stone,  formerly  of  Brookfield,  Mass., 
now  the  wife  of  Henry  Blackwell  of  New  York,  and  Susan 
B.  Anthony  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  their  successors  and 
assigns,  five  thousand  dollars,  not  for  their  own  use,  but  in 
trust,  nevertheless,  to  be  expended  by  them  without  any 
responsibility  to  any  one,  at  their  discretion,  in  such  sums, 
at  such  times  and  in  such  places  as  they  may  deem  fit,  to 
secure  the  passage  of  laws  granting  women,  whether 
married  or  unmarried,  the  right  to  vote,  to  hold  office,  to 
hold,  manage  and  devise  propert}^  and  all  other  civil  rights 
enjoyed  by  men,  and  for  the  preparation  and  circulation  of 
books,  the  delivery  of  lectures,  and  such  other  means  as 


2  44  APPENDIX. 

they  may  judge  best;  and  I  hereby  constitute  them  a  board 
of  trustees  for  that  intent  and  purpose,  with  power  to  add 
two  other  persons  to  said  board  if  they  deem  it  expedient. 
And  I  hereby  appoint  Wendell  Phillips  president  and 
treasurer,  and  Susan  B.  Anthony  secretary  of  said  board. 
I  direct  the  treasurer  of  said  board  not  to  loan  any  part  of 
said  bequest,  but  to  invest,  and  if  need  be,  sell  and  re-invest 
the  same  in  bank  or  railroad  shares,  at  his  discretion.  I 
further  authorize  and  request  said  board  of  trustees,  the 
survivor  and  survivors  of  them,  to  fill  any  and  all  vacancies 
that  may  occur  from  time  to  time  by  death  or  resignation 
of  any  member  or  any  officer  of  said  board.  One  other 
bequest,  hereinafter  made,  will,  sooner  or  later,  revert  to 
this  board  of  trustees.  My  desire  is  that  they  may  become 
a  permanent  organization,  until  the  rights  of  women  shall 
be  established  equal  with  those  of  men ;  and  I  hope  and 
trust  that  said  board  will  receive  the  serv'ices  and  sympa- 
thy, the  donations  and  bequests,  of  the  friends  of  human 
rights.  And  being  desirous  that  said  board  should  have 
the  immediate  benefit  of  said  bequest,  without  waiting  for 
my  exit,  I  have  already  paid  it  in  advance  and  in  full  to 
said  Phillips,  the  treasurer  of  said  board,  whose  receipt 
therefor  is  on  my  files.' " 

Gray,  J.  IV.  "  It  is  quite  clear  that  the  bequest  in 
trust  to  be  expended  'to  secure  the  passage  of  laws  granting 
women,  whether  married  or  unmarried,  the  right  to  vote,  to 
hold  office,  to  hold,  manage  and  devise  property,  and  all 
other  civil  rights  enjoyed  by  men,'  cannot  be  sustained  as  a 
charity.  No  precedent  has  been  cited  in  its  support.  This 
bequest  differs  from  the  others,  in  aiming  dii-ectly  and 
exclusively  to  change  the  laws;  and  its  object  cannot  be 
accomplished  without  changing  the  Constitution  also. 
Whether  such  an  alteration  of  the  existing  laws  and  frame 
of  government  would  be  wise  and  desirable,  is  a  question 
upon  which  we  cannot,  sitting  in  a  judicial  capacity,  prop- 
erly express  any  opinion.    Our  duty  is  limited  to  expounding 


APPENDIX.  245 

the  laws  as  they  stand.  And  those  laws  do  not  recognize 
the  purpose  of  overthrowing  or  changing  them,  in  whole  or 
in  part,  as  a  charitable  use.  This  bequest,  therefore,  not 
being  for  a  charitable  purpose,  nor  for  the  benefit  of  any 
particular  persons,  and  being  unrestricted  in  point  of  time, 
is  inoperative  and  void.  For  the  same  reason,  the  gift  to 
the  same  object,  of  one-third  of  the  residue  of  the  testator's 
estate  after  the  death  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Eddy,  and  her 
daughter,  Mrs.  Bacon,  is  also  invalid,  and  will  go  to  his 
heirs  at  law  as  a  resulting  trust." 

Decision  third  and  last  was  on  the  right  of  women  to 
hold  judicial  offices.    To  quote  again  from  Allen's  Reports : 

*'  On  June  8,  1871,  the  following  order  was  passed  by  the 
Governor  and  Council,  and  on  June  10  transmitted  to  the 
Justices  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  who,  on  June  29, 
returned  the  reply  which  is  annexed.  Ordered,  that  the 
opinion  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  be  requested  as  to 
the  following  questions:  First.  Under  the  Constitution 
of  this  Commonwealth,  can  a  woman,  if  duly  appointed  and 
qualified  as  a  justice  of  the  peace,  legally  perform  all  acts 
appertaining  to  that  office  ?  Second.  Under  the  laws  of 
this  Commonwealth,  would  oaths  and  acknowledgments  of 
deeds,  taken  before  a  married  or  unmarried  woman  duly 
appointed  and  qualified  as  a  justice  of  the  peace,  be  legal 
and  valid  ? 

OPINION. 

"  By  the  Constitution  of  the  Commonwealth,  the  office  of 
justice  of  the  peace  is  a  judicial  office,  and  must  be  exer- 
cised by  the  officer  in  person,  and  a  woman,  whether 
married  or  unmarried,  cannot  be  appointed  to  such  an 
office. 

"  The  law  of  Massachusetts  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution,  the  whole  frame  and  purport  of  the  instru- 
ment itself,  and  the  universal  understanding  and  unbroken 
practical   construction  for  the  greater  part  of  a  century 


246  APPENDIX. 

afterwards,  all  support  this  conclusion,  and  are  incon- 
sistent with  any  other.  It  follows  that,  if  a  woman  should 
be  formally  appointed  and  commissioned  as  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  she  would  have  no  constitutional  or  legal  authority 
to  exercise  any  of  the  functions  appertaining  to  that  office. 
Each  of  the  questions  proposed  must,  therefore,  be  respect- 
fully answered  in  the  negative. 

(Signed),         REUBEN  A.  CHAPMAN, 
HORACE  GRAY,  Jr., 
JOHN  WELLS, 
JAMES  D.  COLT, 
SETH  AMES, 
MARCUS  MORTON. 
"Boston,  June  29,  1S71." 


M. 
LUCY  DOWNING  AND  HARVARD  COLLEGE. 

In  a  volume  of  old  letters  of  the  Winthrop  family,  pub- 
lished by  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  can  be 
found  some  very  interesting  facts  concerning  the  part  taken 
by  a  woman  in  the  inception  of  the  first  school  or  college 
in  the  State.  This  lady  was  Lucy  Downing,  a  sister  of 
Gov.  Winthrop,  the  first  governor  of  Massachusetts.  She 
was  the  wife  of  Emmanuel  Downing,  a  lawyer  of  the  Inner 
Temple,  a  friend  of  Gov.  Winthrop,  and  afterwards  a  man 
of  mark  in  the  infant  colony. 

Mr.  Downing  and  his  wife  remained  in  England  some 
years  after  John  Winthrop  came  to  New  England,  and 
these  early  letters  are  written  from  that  place.  In  one  of 
these  letters  to  her  brother,  Lucy  Downing  expresses  the 
desire  of  herself  and  husband  to  come  to  New  England 
with  their  children,  but  laments  that  if  they  do  come  her 
son  George  cannot  complete  his  studies.     She  adds;  "  You 


APPENDIX.  247 

have  yet  no  societies  nor  means  of  that  kind  for  the  educa- 
tion of  youths  in  learning."  She  goes  on  to  express  her 
solicitation  in  the  matter  and  says:  "  It  would  make  me 
goe  far  nimbler  to  New  England,  if  God  should  call  me  to 
it,  than  otherwise  I  should,  and  I  believe  a  colledge  would 
put  noe  small  life  into  the  plantation."  This  letter  was 
written  early  in  1636,  and  in  October  of  the  same  year,  the 
General  Court  of  the  Massachusetts  colony  agreed  to  give 
400  pounds  towards  establishing  a  school  or  college  in 
Newtowne,  (two  years  afterwards  called  Cambridge.)  Soon 
afterwards  Rev.  John  Harvard  died  and  left  one  half  of 
his  estate  to  this  "infant  seminary,"  and  in  1638  it  was 
ordered  by  the  General  Court  that  the  "  Colledge  to  be 
built  at  Cambridge  shall  be  called  Harvard  Colledge." 

Whether  Lucy  Downing's  earnest  plea  to  her  brother, 
the  then  powerful  Governor  of  New  England,  for  a  school 
in  which  to  educate  her  son,  prompted  him,  or  hurried  his 
attention*  thus  early  to  act  in  this  direction,  we  cannot  now 
tell.  It  is  as  the  history  says  "certainly  a  remarkable 
coincidence."  Early  in  1638  Lucy  Downing  and  her  hus- 
band arrived  in  New  England,  and  the  name  of  George 
Downing  stands  second  on  the  list  of  the  first  class  of 
Harvard  graduates  in  1642.  The  Downings  had  other 
sons  who  do  not  seem  to  have  been  educated  at  Harvard, 
and  daughters  who  were  put  out  to  service.  One  of  these 
daughters  was  married,  or  given  in  marriage,  against  her 
own  wishes,  for  she  preferred  at  least  two  lovers  to  the  man 
chosen  by  her  parents  to  be  her  husband.  The  son,  for 
whom  so  much  was  done  by  his  mother,  was  afterwards 
known  as  Sir  George  Downing,  and  he  became  rich  and 
powerful  in  England.  Downing  street  in  London  is  named 
for  him.  In  after  life  he  forgot  his  duty  to  his  mother,  who 
so  naturally  looked  to  him  for  support ;  and  her  last  letter 
written  from  England  after  her  husband  died,  when  she 
was  old  and  feeble,  tells  a  sad  story  of  her  son's  avarice  and 
meanness,  and  leaves  the  painful  impression  that  she  suf- 
fered in  her  old  age  for  the  necessaries  of  life. 


24S  APPENDIX. 

It  is  a  pathetic  story,  and  one  that  has  been  told  by  many 
women  since  Lucy  Downing's  day.  "I  am  now  att  ten 
pounde  a  yeare  for  my  chamber,  and  three  pounde  for  my 
servants'  wages,  and  have  to  extend  the  other  ten  pounde 
a  yeare  to  accommodat  for  our  meat  and  drink,  and  for  my 
clothing  and  all  other  nessessaries  I  am  much  to  seek,  and 
more  your  brother  Georg  will  not  hear  of  for  me,  and  he 
says  that  it  is  only  covetousness  that  makes  me  ask  more. 
He  last  summer  boug-ht  another  town  near  Hatly,  calld 
Clappum,  cost  him  thirteen  or  fourteen  thousand  pounds, 
and  I  really  beleeve  one  of  us  two  are  indeed  covetous." 
Then  the  poor  old  lady  goes  on  to  tell  the  high  price  of 
coal  and  wheat,  and  sends  word  to  her  nephew,  John  Win- 
throp,  Jr.,  to  see  if  he  cannot  help  her  in  her  want  while 
she  lives,  and  after  her  death  help  her  daughter  Peters 
(one  of  those  who-went  out  to  service),  who  she  says  plain- 
tively "  never  yet  had  any  portion,  and  to  her  I  am  sure  it 
will  not  be  offensive  to  my  son  Georg,  whilst  the 'principal 
remains  to  him,  it  being  his  patrimonie." 

This  letter  was  shown  to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  and  he 
wrote  at  once  a  long  letter  to  Sir  George,  begging  him  to 
make  some  suitable  provision  for  his  mother  "aunt  Lucy 
in  her  tyme  of  age  and  infirmity,"  and  to  settle  upon  her 
about  an  hundred  pounds  as  annuity.  Sir  George  in  a 
short  note  replied,  that  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  do  more 
for  his  mother  than  he  was  already  doing,  that  his  means 
were  not  so  large  as  was  supposed,  nor  had  he  nearly  as 
much  money  as  people  thought.  The  sequel  shows,  how- 
ever, that  he  died  very  wealthy,  and  that  the  accumulated 
wealth  of  his  family  during  their  generations  was  finally 
used  to  establish  a  college  in  Cambridge,  England. 

At  the  present  time  it  is  hard  to  estimate  how  much 
influence  the  earnest  longing  of  this  one  woman  for  the 
better  education  of  her  son,  had  in  the  founding  of  this 
earliest  college  in  Massachusetts.  But  for  her  thinking  and 
speaking  at  the  right  time,  the  enterprise  might  have  been 
delaved  for  half  a  century.     It  is  to  be  deplored  that  Lucy 


APPENDIX.  249 

Downing  established  the  unwise  precedent  of  educating  one 
member  of  her  family  at  the  expense  of  the  rest ;  a  prece- 
dent followed  by  too  many  women  since  her  time.  Harvard 
College  itself  has  followed  it  as  well,  in  that  it  has  so  long 
excluded  from  its  privileges,  that  portion  of  the  human 
family  to  which  Lucy  Downing  belongs. 

Although  women  have  never  been  permitted  to  become 
students  of  this  college,  or  of  any  of  the  schools  connected 
with  it,  yet  they  have  always  taken  a  great  interest  in  its 
pecuniary  welfare,  and  the  university  is  largely  indebted  to 
the  generosity  of  women  for  its  endowment  and  support. 
From  the  annual  reports  and  other  records  of  Harvard 
College,  it  appears  that  since  its  foundation,  funds  have 
been  contributed  by  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  women 
which  amount  in  the  aggregate  to  $325,000.  Out  of  these 
funds  a  proportion  of  the  university  scholarships  were 
founded,  and  at  least  one  of  its  professors'  chairs.  In  its 
Divinity  School  alone,  five  of  the  ten  scholarships  bear  the 
names  of  women.  Caroline  A.  Plummer  of  Salem  gave 
$15,000  to  found  the  Plummer  Professorship  of  Christian 
Morals.  Sarah  Derby  bequeathed  $1,000  towards  founding 
the  Hersey  Professorship  of  Anatomy  and  Physic.  The 
Holden  Chapel  was  built  with  money  given  for  that  pi>r- 
pose  by  Mrs.  Holden  (widow  of  Samuel  Holden)  and  her 
daughters.  Anna  E.  P.  Sever  in  1879  ^^^t  a  legacy  to  this 
College  of  $140,000. 

The  names  of  other  women  benefactors  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity are  Lady  Moulson,  Hannah  Sewall,  Mary  Salton- 
stall,  Dorothy  Saltonstall,  Joanna  Alford,  Mary  P.  Town- 
send,  Ann  Toppan,  Eliza  Farrar,  Ann  F.  Schaeffer,  Levina 
Hoar,  Rebecca  A.  Perkins,  Caroline  Merriam,  Sarah  Jack- 
son, Hannah  C.  Andrews,  Nancy  Kendall,  Charlotte  Har- 
ris, Mary  Osgood,  Lucy  Osgood,  Sarah  Winslow,  Julia 
Bullock,  Marian  Hovey,  Anna  Richmond,  Caroline  Rich- 
mond, Clara  J.  Moore,  Susan  Cabot,  and  others. 

The  treasurer  of  the  "  Harvard  Annex "  in  his  annual 
report  declares  the  great  need  that  exists  for  funds  to  pro- 


250  APPENDIX. 

vide  a  suitable  building,  books,  etc,  for  the  numerous 
women  students  who  continue  to  apply  there  for  admission; 
and  he  appeals  to  the  generosity  of  the  public,  for  contri- 
butions of  money  to  be  used  for  this  purpose.  The  casual 
observer  might  suggest  that  those  women  who  will  here- 
after become  the  benefactors  of  this  university,  should 
remember  the  needs  of  their  own  sex,  and  leave  their 
donations  or  bequests,  so  that  they  can  be  used  for  the 
benefit  of  the  "  Harvard  Annex  "  and  its  students. 


N. 
THE  ISLE  OF  MAN. 

This  most  ancient  kingdom  does  not  send  members  to 
the  British  Parliament.  It  has  its  own  government,  its  own 
House  of  Lords  (the  Council)  and  House  of  Commons 
(the  Keys).  It  enacts  its  own  laws,  and  imposes  its  own 
taxes,  the  only  control  being  the  sanction  of  the  Queen. 
The  House  of  Keys  is  a  much  older  institution  than 
the  English  House  of  Commons.  It  was  established  by  a 
Scandinavian  prince  named  Orry,  about  the  year  938. 

On  Nov.  5,  1880,  a  "  Franchise  Bill "  to  secure  further 
privileges  to  voters  was  introduced  into  the  House  of  Keys. 
In  committee  of  the  House  Mr.  Richard  Sherwood  moved 
an  amendment  to  strike  out  the  word  "  male."  This  was 
done  by  the  honorable  member  for  the  purpose  of  extend- 
ing the  franchise  to  women  who  possessed  the  required 
property  qualifications.  This  amendment  was  carried  by  a 
t\vt)-thirds  vote,  and  the  Bill  was  signed  by  the  Queen,  Jan. 
5,  1 88 1.  It  could  not,  however,  become  a  law,  until,  in 
accordance  with  immemorial  custom,  it  was  officially 
announced  in  the  open  air  from  the  top  of  Tynwald  Hill. 
This  event  took  place  Jan.  31,  1881.  In  March  following-, 
out  of  the  700  women  electors  on  the  island,  460  voted 


APPENDIX.  251 

under  the  new  law.  At  several  of  the  pollhig  stations,  the 
women  were  the  first  to  vote;  and  they  were  all  received 
most  cordially.  Mr.  Farrant  who  made  a  speech  after  the 
close  of  the  election  said :  "  The  more  we  have  of  the 
women  voters  the  better."  Mr.  Sherwood  was  one  of  the 
candidates  for  the  house  of  Keys  and  of  course  received 
every  woman's  vote.  In  his  address  to  his  constituents  he 
said,  substantially:  "On  my  nomination  in  this  court,  about 
eleven  vears  ago,  I  was  asked  what  I  thought  about  female 
suffrage.  I  am  glad  to  say  that  since  then,  we  have 
achieved  that,  and  that  the  first  voter  at  the  Aver  election 
was  a  woman.  The  subject  of  woman  suffrage  has  brought 
the  Isle  of  Man  more  prominently  before  many  countries, 
than  anything  that  has  ever  taken  place.  It  turns  out  that 
we  are  the  first  Legislature  in  Europe  which  has  extended 
the  privilege  to  women.  There  is  no  doubt  they  will  follow 
up  the  movement  in  England  and  perhaps  before  twelve 
months."  The  women  voters  in  the  Isle  of  Man  received 
hearty  congratulations  from  leading  suffragists  of  England 
because  of  the  proud  position  occupied  by  them  in  being 
the  first  women  within  Her  Majesty's  dominions  whose 
rights  as  parliamentary  electors  have  been  recognized  and 
legally  secured. 

In  May,  1881,  the  Parliament  of  the  United  Kingdom 
passed  the  Municipal  Franchise  bill  for  the  women  of 
Scotland,  and  the  act  received  the  royal  assent  on  June  3. 
After  January,  1882,  the  women  of  that  portion  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  will  be  legally  entitled  to  vote  in  the 
elections  of  every  Municipal  Council.  This  is  a  great  step 
towards  establishing  Parliamentary  Franchise  in  Scotland. 

Last  of  all  to  come  into  line  is  despotic  Austria.  In 
July,  1881,  a  new  electoral  law  was  proclaimed  in  Croatia, 
a  province  of  Austria,  by  which  women  were  called  upon 
to  vote  in  the  forthcoming  general  election  of  Municipal 
Councils.  Good  news  also,  continues  to  come  from  Italy. 
Two  girl  students  of  the  Roman  University  —  Carolina 
Magistrelli    and    Evangelina   Bottero  —  who    had    passed 


252  APPENDIX. 

with  great  distinction  examinations  in  Greek,  Latin  and 
Italian  literature,  have  recently  taken  doctors'  degrees  in 
the  Natural  Sciences.  The  Rome  Opinione  says,  that  so 
far  as  is  known,  no  woman  has,  until  now,  taken  a  degree 
in  the  Roman  University,  since  its  foundation  by  Innocent 
IV.  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

In  1650,  when  Anne  Bradstreet  lived  and  wrote  her 
verses,  a  woman  author  was  almost  unknown  in  English 
Literature.  This  lady  was  the  wife  of  the  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  and  because  of  her  literary  tendencies,  was 
looked  upon  by  the  people  of  her  time  as  a  marvel  of 
womankind.  Her  contemporaries  called  her  the  "  tenth 
muse  lately  sprung  up  in  America,"  and  one  of  them,  Rev. 
Nathaniel  Ward,  was  inspired  to  write  an  address  to  her, 
in  which  he  declares  his  wonder  at  her  success  as  a  poet, 
and  playfully  foretells  the  consequences,  if  women  are  per- 
mitted to  intrude  farther  into  the  domain  of  man.  The 
closing  lines  express  so  well  the  conflicting  emotions  which 
torment  the  minds  of  the  opponents  of  the  Woman  Suf- 
frage movement,  that  I  venture  to  quote  them,  as  an 
appropriate  ending  to  this  book: 

"  *  Good  sooth,'  quoth  the  old  Don,  '  tell  ye  me  so 
I  muse  whither  at  length  these  Girls  will  go. 
It  half  revives  mj'  chil,  frost-bitten  blood 
To  see  a  woman  once  do  ayght  that's  good 
AndChode  by  Chaucer's  Boots  and  Homer's  Furrs 
Let  men  look  to't,  least  Women  wear  the  Spurrs.'  " 


INDEX 


Adams,  Abigail  and  John,  8,  9. 

Advancement  of  Women,  Association  for,  sketch  of, 

158,  159. 
Agitator,  The  (early  woman's  rights  paper),  63. 
Alcott,  A.  Bronson,  16,  37,  67,  232. 
Alcott,  Abby  M.,  92,  93,  232. 
Alexander,  Janet,  134. 
American  Equal  Rights  Association,  formed,  45;  first 

convention  (1866),  46;  first  anniversary,  52;  changed 

to   National   Woman  Suffrage  Association  (1869), 

47. 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Association,  formed,  47,  51; 

conventions  of,  55. 
Andrew,  John  A.,  suggestion  concerning  the  surplus 

women  in  Massachusetts,  98. 
Anneke,  Madame  (of  Germany),  29. 
Anthony,    Susan   B.,    first   appearance   (1852),   27,  28; 

early  connection  with  the  movement,  30,  37;  later, 

45,  46,  55,  56. 
Anti-Slavery  Convention  (World's),  14;  account  of,  190. 
Anti-Slavery  Society  (American),  11;  women  allowed 

to  speak  and  vote  at  conventions  of,  12;  women 

allowed  to  be  officers  of,  13;   division  of,  13.    (see 

Garrisonian  Wing;  also  Appendix  B.) 
Anti-Slavery  Society  (Boston  Female),  11. 
Anti-Slavery  Society  (New  England),  12. 
Art,  woman  in,  151. 


254  INDEX. 

Austria,  -woman's  rights  in,  251. 
Author,  woman  as,  154. 

B. 

Bartol,  Eev.  Cyrus  A.,  53. 

Bazars,  Woman  Suffrage  (1S70  and  1871),  51,  64. 

Bird  Club,  55. 

Bird,  Francis  W.,  48,  61,  100. 

Blaclvwell,  Eev.  Antoinette  Brown  {see  Brown),  con- 
nection with  the  movement,  61,  131,  228,  229. 

Blackwell,  Henry  B.,  first  appearance,  31;  speech  on 
woman's  dress,  31,  34;  protest  against  marriage  laws, 
34;  later  connection  with  the  movement,  46,  48,  55, 
61,  63,  67,  78,  79,  220;  resolution  at  Republican 
Convention  of  1870,  72. 

Bloomer  Costume,  32,  34. 

Boston  Conventions,  First  (1854),  36;  Second  (1855),  36; 
Third  (1S59),  39;  Fourth  (1866),  46;  Fifth  (1868), 
47;  Sixtli  (1870)  for  political  action,  67. 

Boston  University,  position  concerning  woman's  edu- 
cation, 139,  140. 

Bowditch,  William  I.,  early  connection  with  the  move- 
ment, 36,  232;  later,  116,  166. 

Bowles,  Rev.  Ada  C,  and  Rev.  B.  F.,  51,  57,  67,  144. 

Bradburn,  George,  14,  24.    (see  Appendix  B). 

Bradstreet,  Anne,  earliest  American  woman  poet,  252. 

Brown,  Rev.  Antoinette  L.,  early  connection  with  tbo 
movement,  22,  30,  37.    (see  Blaclcwell). 

Brown,  Rev.  Olympia,  143,  238. 

Burleigh,  Charles  C,  22. 

Butler,  Benjamin  F.,  94. 


Campbell,   Margaret    W.,    51,    52;    work   as  agent  of 
woman  suffrage  associations,  etc.,  57,  61,  62. 


INDEX.  •  255 

Cancns,  women  in  the,  81,  82,  83,  87. 

Census  Enumerator,  woman  as,  158. 

Cliace,  Elizabetli  IJ.,  46. 

Channing,  Kev.  William  Eilery,  16. 

Clianning,  Rev.  William  Henry,  early  connection  with 
the  movement,  16,  22,  27,  28,  :;0;  laler,  55,  61,  229. 

Charter  (Province),  election  laws  under,  90. 

Cheney,  Ednah  Dov/,  early  connection  with  the  move- 
ment, 52,  232;  later,  61,  112,  137,  155,  156,  161,  109, 
219. 

Child,  Lydia  Maria,  early  connection  with  the  move- 
ment, 16,  43,  153 ;  death  of,  62. 

Church,  attitude  of  the  on  woman's  rights,  144. 

Church,  woman  in  the,  143. 

Churchill,  Elizabeth  K.,  55,  57,  226. 

Claflin,  William,  103. 

Clarke,  Rev.  James  Freeman,  early  connection  with  the 
movement,  36,  39,  47,  232;  la^'-.er,  55,  72,  101,  218. 

**  Clerical  Bull,"  (.see  Pastoral  Letter). 

Cleveland  Convention,  (i-ee  Ohio). 

Coe,  Emma  R.,  25. 

Colleges  and  schools  for  girls,  129. 

Colleges  (Medical),  for  women,  136. 

Common  Law,  position  of  women  under,  116. 

Concord  (Mass.)  Convention  of  1875,  accoi:nt  of,  224. 

Constitution,  position  of  women  under,  91. 

Constitutional  Convention  of  1820,  action  concerning 
women's  voting,  91;  of  1853,  92. 

Conventions  (Woman  Suffrage),  at  Seneca  Falls  (1848), 
18;  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.  (1848),  18;  at  Salem,,  Ohio 
(1850),  19,  23;  in  Worcester,  Mass.  (1850),  19-23; 
in  Worcester,  JSIass.  (1851),  25,  27;  at  Syracuse, 
K  Y.  (1852),  27;  in  New  York  (1853),  28,  30;  in 
Cleveland,  Ohio  (18^3),  30,  34;  in  Boston  (1854). 
36;  in  Boston  (1855),  36;  in  New  York  (1856),  37 
in  Boston  (1859),  39;  in  New  York  (1859),  40;  in 


256  INDEX. 

New  York  (1866),  45;  in  Boston  (1866),  46;  in  New 
York  (1867),  46;  in  Boston  (1888),  47;  of  New 
England  Association  (1869),  52,  53;  of  American 
and  Massacliusetts  Associations  since  formation,  55, 
56,  59,  62;  in  Boston  (1870)  for  political  action,  67, 
81;  in  Worcester  (1880),  60,  62;  Middlesex  County 
Senatorial,  82. 

County  Societies,  work  of,  51,  52,  59,  82,  219. 

Crocker,  Hannah  Mather,  9,  189. 

Curtis,  Harriot  F.,  17,  153.     (see  Appendix  C). 

D. 

Dall,  Caroline  Healey,  early  connection  with  the  move- 
ment, 36,  39,  232,  235;  later,  45,46,  155,  166;  account 
of  meetings  held  by,  218. 

Davis,  Paulina  Wright,  early  connection  with  the  move- 
m^ent,  20,  21,  25,  27,  36,  232. 

Declaration  of  Independence,  Woman's,  30. 

Democratic  party,  resolution  concerning,  at  the  woman 
suffrage  convention  of  1856,  38;  its  attitude  towards 
the  suffragists,  69. 

Dial,  The,  15,  16. 

Doggett,  Kate  Newell,  61,  63. 

Douglass,  Frederick,  18. 

Downing,  Lucy,  and  Harvard  College,  246. 

E. 

Earle,  Sarah  H.,  21,  36. 

Eastman,  Mary  F.,  57,  61,  112,  156,  220. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  early  connection  with  the  move- 
ment, 16,  25.  37,  219,  226. 

England,  commencement  of  the  agitation  in,  23,  26,  28; 
present  position  concerning  woman  suffrage,  178. 

England,  Cambridge  University  in,  opened  to  women 
^181. 

Essex  County  Society  formed,  51. 


INDEX.  257 

F. 

Farley,  Harriet,  17,  153.     {see  Appendix  C). 

Ferrin,  Mary  Upton,  237. 

Foley.  Margaret,  151,  152    (see  Appendix  C). 

Folsom,  Abby,  11. 

Foster,  Abby  Kelley  (.see  Kelley),  early  connection  with 
the  movement,  20,  22,  30,  30,  232;  speech  at  Wor- 
cester (1851),  20;  later,  48,  55,  01.  (see  Appendixes 
B  and  H). 

Foster,  Stephen  S.,  early  connection  with  the  move- 
ment, 14,  22,  30;  later,  45,  48,  55,  07. 

France,  woman's  rights  in,  182. 

Fuller,  Margaret,  influence  of  the  early  writings  of,  15, 
153;  death  of,  21. 

G. 

Gage,  Frances  D.,  20,  30,  37,  45,  61. 

Gage,  Matilda  E.  Joslyn,  28. 

Garrison,    William    Lloyd,   early  connection  with  the 

movement,   14,  22,  24,  28,  30,  36,    232;    later,   48, 

63,  96,  220.     (see  Appendix  B). 
Garrisonlan  Wing  of  American  Anti-Slavery  Society, 

13,  15.    (see  Appendix  B). 
Giddings,  Joshua  R.,  31. 
Gove,  Mary  S.,  10. 
Greeley,  Horace,  28,  37. 
Greene,  William  B.,  95. 
Grimke,  Angelina,  first  appearance  of,  10,  115;   early 

connection  with  the  movement,  12,  15,  26,  28;  later, 

86. 
Grimke,   Sarah,   early  connection  with  the  movement, 

10,  11,  12,  15;  later,  86. 

H. 

Hampden  County  Society  formed,  51,  52. 
Hampshire  County  Society  formed,  51. 

17 


258  INDEX. 

Hanaford,  Kev.  Phoebe  A.,  53,  143. 

Harvard  College,  position  of  with  regard  to  woman's 
education,  131,  141,  144,  148.    (see  Appendix  M). 

Haskell,  Mehitable,  25,  100. 

Haven,  Bishop  Gilbert,  early  connection  with  the  move- 
ment, 48,  53,  147;  later,  55,  68,  220. 

Haven,  Rev.  W.  I.,  62. 

Haynes,  Eev.  Lorenza,  57,  143. 

Higginson,  Thomas  Wentwortli,  early  connection  with 
the  movement,  35,  37,  93,  232,  235;  later,  48,  61,  63, 
122,  lt;5,  183,  229. 

Hinckley,  Frederick  A.,  46,  54,  61. 

Hoar,  George  F.,  74,  101,  220. 

Hooker,  Isabella  Beecher,  48,  61. 

Hospital  for  Women  and  Children  (New  England),  137, 
138. 

Howe,  Julia  Ward,  first  appearance  of,  50;  later  con- 
nection with  the  movement,  51,  52,  55,  G'd,  67,  78, 
101,  115,  220;  as  preacher,  144;  as  poet,  155;  as 
speaker,  156,  161,  169,  183. 

Hunt,  Harriot  K.,  early  connection  with  the  movement, 
20,  36,  39,  93,  95,  169,  232;  efforts  to  become  a 
"regular  physician,"  135,  142;  protest  of,  22,233. 
(.see  Appendix  E). 


Illinois,  early  agitation  in,  30. 

Indiana,  early  agitation  in,  30;  later  action  in,  174,  175. 

Inventor,  Avoman  as,  163. 

Isle  of  Man,  late  action  in,  182,  250. 

Italy,  woman's  rights  in,  185,  251. 

J. 

Jackson,  Francis,  37,  92,  93,  232;  will  of,  114,  242. 
Jackson,  Dr.  Mercy  B.,  67,  136,  218. 
Johnson,  Oliver,  14,  26. 


nsTDEx.  259 

Jones,  Jane  Elizabeth,  28. 
Journalist,  woman  as,  153. 
Judicial  Offices,  decision  of  Supreme  Court  upon   the 

right  of  women  to  hold,  245. 
Justices  of  the  Peace,  women  as,  115. 


Kelley,  Abby,  first  appearance  of,   10,   12,   155;    early 

action,  13,  15.    {see  Foster). 
Kenney,  Eliza  J.,  21,  22. 
Keyes,  Edward  L.,  95. 


Labor  Reform  party,  connection  of  with  the  Suffragists, 
68,  69. 

Larcom,  Lucy,  151,  155.    {see  Appendix  C). 

Lawyer,  woman  as,  147. 

Lecturer,  woman  as,  155. 

Legal  (coTistitutional)  action  on  woman's  voting,  90,  96. 

Legislature,  petitions  to,  50,  96,  99,  100,  112;  character  of 
petitions,  105;  remonstrance  to,  101;  hearings  be- 
fore, 101,  102;  committee  of  formed  on  woman 
suffrage,  102;  sketch  of  early  hearings,  232;  early 
action  of,  96;  subsequent  action  of,  97-102;  result 
of  action,  116-120;  illustration  of  action,  125.  {see 
School  Committee). 

Liberty  party,  endorsement  of  woman's  rights  by 
(1852),  28,  84. 

Livermore,  Mary  Ashton,  early  connection  with  the 
movement,  46,  220,  224;  debfit  in  Boston,  52;  later 
connection,  55,  61,  67;  connection  with  Woman's 
Journal,  63;  at  Republican  Convention,  70,  72; 
speaking  for  Republican  party,  77. 

Long,  John  D.  (Governor),  position  on  woman  suffrage, 
104. 

Lothrop,  Thomas  J.,  80,  228. 

Lowell  Offering,  17.  153;  sketch  of,  195. 


26o  INDEX. 

M. 

Maiden  Convention  of  1875,  account  of,  219. 

"Male"  first  put  into  the  constitution,  91;  effort  to 

strike  from  fourteenth  amendment,  43. 
Mann,  Horace,  25. 
Martineau,  Harriet,  26,  162. 

Massachusetts,  first  convention  in  (1850),  10.    (see  Con- 
ventions). 
Massachusetts  Woman  Suffrage  Association  formed,  51, 

55;  methods  and  work,  56,  57,  58,  59,' 60,  62,  145. 
May,  Ahhy  W.,  105,  112,  113,  169: 
May,  Rev.  Samuel  J.,  22,  27,  28,  218. 
May,  Samuel  Jr.,  48,  61,  232. 
Medical  Society  (Mass.),  action  of  concepning  women 

physicians,  142. 
Melrose  Convention  of  1875,  account  of,  221. 
Methodist  Church,  position  of  on  woman  suffrage,  145, 

147. 
Methods  of  Work,  44,  50,  54,  57,  58,  64,  68,  89. 
Middlesex  County  Conventions,  First  Senatorial,  82;  at 

Maiden,  Melrose  and  Concord,  59,  219. 
Middlesex  County  Society  formed,  51. 
Mitchell,  Prof.  Maria,  133. 
Mott,  James,  18,  28. 
Mott,  Lucretia,  early  connection  with  the  movement,  18, 

22,  27,  29,  30,  38;  later,  45,  46.    (see  Appendix  B). 
Municipal  Suffrage,  effort  to  obtain,  58,  122. 

N. 

National  Woman's  Rights  Conventions,  in  Worcester, 
Mass.  (1850),  19,  23  (see  Appendix  D) ;  in  Worces- 
ter (1851),  25,  27;  in  Syracuse,  N.  Y.  (1852),  27, 
in  Cleveland,  Ohio  (1853),  30,  34;  in  New  York 
(1856),  37,  39;  in  New  York  (1859),  40. 

National  Woman  Suffrage  Association,  formed  (1869), 
47;  appeal  to  ''Women  of  America,"  76;  conven- 
tion in  New  York  (1866),  45. 


INDEX.  261 

Nebraska,  latest  action  in,  175. 

New  England  Women's  Club,  formed,  168,  169;  pro- 
jection of  school  suffrage  by,  105,  170. 

New  England  Woman  Suffrage  Association,  formed 
(1868),  50,  238;  first  anniversary,  52,  53;  work  of,  101. 

New  York  Conventions,  Broadway  Tabernacle  (1853), 
28,  30;  Seventh  National  (1856),  37,  39;  Ninth 
National  (1859),  40;  of  1866,  45;  of  1867,  46. 

Nichols,  Clarina  I.  H.,  25,  61. 

O. 

Oberlin  College,  125. 

"  Observations  on  the  Rights  of  Women,"  9,  189. 

OflBce-Holder,  woman  as,  120,  156. 

Ohio  Conventions  in  Salem  (1850),  19,  23;  in  Cleveland 

(1853),  30,  34. 
Oregon,  woman's  rights  in,  174. 


Parker,  Julia  E.  Smith,  (see  Smith). 

Parker,  Theodore,  16,  232. 

Pastoral  Letter  of  General  Association  of  Congrega- 
tional Ministers  in  Massachusetts,  11,  13. 

Patentee,  woman  as,  163. 

Peabody,  Elizabeth  P..  15-5,  232. 

Pennsylvania,  early  agitation  in,  30. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  early  connection  with  the  movement, 
14,  21,  36,  37,  39,  42,  218,  233,  234;  later,  45,  48,  53, 
(as  the  suffrage  candidate  in  1870,  68),  93,  101,  232. 
[nee  Appendix  B). 

Philosophy,  Concord  Summer  School  of,  161. 

Physician,  woman  as,  134. 

Pierpont,  Rev.  John,  29,  134. 

Pillsbury,  Parker,  14,  45,  46. 

Poet,  woman  as,  155. 

Political  action  of  woman  suffragists,  57,  67-89. 


2  62  INDEX. 

Political  Clubs  of  men  and  women  formed,  82. 

Political  Education,  ]S"ational  Society  for,  160. 

Political  party  (woman  suffrage),  C7,  80. 

Polls,  women  at  the  (1876),  82,  84;  (1870),  86. 

Post,  Amy,  18. 

Postmaster,  woman  as,  157. 

Press,  Opinions  of  the,  24,  29,  52,  60,  166;  conversion  of 

a  Boston  member  of,  29. 
Price,  Abby  H.,  22,  93,  232. 
Professor,  woman  as,  133. 
Prohibitory  party,  attitude  towards  the  Suffragists,  68, 

69,  81,*  83,  87. 
Property  laws  of  married  women,  (see  Women). 

a. 

Quincy,  Edmund,  14. 


Remond,  Charles  L.,  46.     (see  Appendix  B.). 

Republican  party,  resolutions  concerning,  at  the  suf- 
frage convention  of  1856,  38;  attitude  towards  the 
Suffragists,  69,  70-76,  80;  resolution  of  National 
Republican  Convention  endorsing  woman  suffrage 
(1872),  75. 

Republican  Women  of  Massachusetts  to  Women  of 
America,  address  from,  77. 

Robinson,  Harriet  H.,  first  appearance,  48;  later  con- 
nection, 56,  220,  228;  history  of  movement  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, 61.  (see  Appendix  C). 

Robinson,  Lelia  J.,  efforts  to  obtain  admission  to  the 
Massachusetts  bar,  148. 

Robinson,  William  S.,  (see  ''Warrington"). 

Rochester  Convention  of  1848,  18. 

Roland,  Pauline,  and  Jeanne  Deroine,  26. 

Rose,  Ernestine  L.,  10,  28,  29,  30,  38,  45. 

Russia,  woman's  rights  in,  186. 


INDEX.  263 

s. 

Sanborn,  Frank  B.,  51,  64,  67,  161,  162. 
Sargent,  Rev.  John  T.,  39,  48,  67. 

School  Committees,  law  allowing  women  to  vote  for,  58, 
80,  104,  105;  result  of  law,  106.    (^-ee  Appendix  K). 

School  Committees,   law  declaring  women  eligible  to 
serve  on,  113. 

School  Suffrage,  petitions  for,  105,  112,  113. 

School  Suffrage  Association  formed,  112. 

School  Suffrage  in  other  states,  174. 

Scotland,  woman's  rights  in,  181. 

Seneca  Falls  Convention,  18. 

Severance,  Caroline  M.,  early  connection  with  the  move- 
ment, 29,  37,  39,  218;  later,  46,  169. 

Shattuck,  Harriette  R.,  63,  109. 

Smith,  Elizabeth  Oakes,  25,  37. 

Smith,  Gerrit,  22,  28. 

Smith,  Julia  E.,  61,  228.  (see  Appendix  E). 

Social  Science  Associations  (American  and  Boston),  160. 

Spain,  woman's  rights  in,  186. 

Speaker  and  Lecturer,  woman  as,  155. 

Spencer,  Anna  Garlin,  61,  112,  156. 

Spring,  Rebecca,  25. 

Stanton,  Elizabeth  Cady,  early  connection  with  the 
movement,  18,  22,  27,  28,  38;  the  Bloomer  costume, 
33;  President  of  American  Association,  45;  in 
Boston  in  1870,  65;  at  the  Bird  Club  in  1870  and 
1881,  55,  56.     (.see  Appendix  B). 

Stanton  Henry  B.,  14,  131.    (see  Appendix  B). 

State  Central  Committee  (Woman  Suffrage),  63,  68;  me- 
morial to  and  action  towards  the  Republican  party, 
70;  action  towards  the  Prohibitory  party,  81-83. 

Stone,  Lucy,  at  constitutional  convention,  20,  93;  first 
speech  (1847),  22;  at  Maiden,  25;  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
(1852),  27;  at  Cleveland,  Ohio  (1853),  30;  Bloomer 
Costume,  32;  protest  against  the  marriage  laws,  34; 


264  INDEX. 

not  allowed  to  vote  for  school  committee,  35;  in 
Boston  in  1854  and  1855,  36,  37;  at  New  York  con- 
vention of  1856,  87;  in  1867,  46;  in  Boston  in  1868, 
48;  at  convention  of  1869,  53,  55;  in  Worcester  in 
1881,  61,  228,  229;  connection  with  the  Woman's 
Journal,  63;  in  political  action,  67;  at  the  Republi- 
can convention,  70,  72;  speaking  for  the  Republican 
party,  77;  one  of  her  axioms,  95;  at  hearings  before 
the  Legislature,  101 ;  as  Oberlin  student,  131 ;  as 
speaker,  156.    {see  Appendixes  D,  G  and  J). 

Student  and  Professor,  woman  as,  129. 

Supreme  Court,  action  of  concerning  women  serving  on 
school  committees,  113;  other  adverse  decisions  on 
woman's  rights,  114,  115.    (see  Appendix  L). 

Sweden,  woman's  rights  in,  185. 

Syracuse  Convention  of  1852,  33. 

T. 

Talbot,   Thomas    (Ex-Governor),   position    on  woman 

suffrage,  103. 
Teacher,  woman  as,  128. 
Trask,  Eliphalet,  51. 
Truth,  Sojourner,  22. 

U. 

Una,  The,  (early  woman's  rights  newspaper),  232. 
Useful  Occupations,  women  in,  162. 

V. 

Voting  Laws  relating  to  women  (early),  90;  summary 
of,  230. 

W. 

Wall,  Sarah  E.,  protest  of,  233,  241. 

Warren,  Mercy  Otis,  9. 

*'  Warrington"  (W.  S.  Robinson),  early  connection  with 

the  movement,  24, 198;  later,  48,  63,  GS,  74,  100,  166, 

220,  233. 


INDEX.  265 

Weld,  Angelina  Grimke,  (see  Grimke). 

Whittier,  John  G.,  48. 

Widows,  legislation  concerning,  97,  118. 

Wilson,  Henry,  opinion  on  woman  suffrage,  49. 

Wollstonecraft,  Mary,  10. 

Woman,  position  of  under  the  common  law,  116;  posi- 
tion of  at  present,  117;  progress  of,  121,  128-188. 

'•  Woman"  and  "Wife,"  first  appearance  of  in  legisla- 
tive records,  97. 

Woman's  Journal,  started,  51;  sketch  of,  63. 

Woman's  Rights,  early  arguments  against,  24;  opinions 
of  the  press  on,  24,  29,  52;  Declaration  of,  30; 
petitions  for,  50,  96,  99,  100;  remonstrance  against, 
101;  best  printed  arguments  for  and  against,  165; 
present  influences  upon,  170;  in  other  states,  174; 
in  England,  178;  in  Scotland,  181;  in  the  Isle  of 
Man,  182 ;  in  France,  182 ;  in  Italy,  185 ;  in  Sweden, 
185;  in  Russia,  186;  in  Spain,  186. 

Women's  Clubs,  168. 

Women  (Married),  legislation  concerning,  99,  100,  117. 
120. 

Women's  Prison  at  Sherborn,  120,  139. 

Worcester  Convention  of  1850,  19,  20,  23  {see  Appen- 
dix D),  of  1851,  25,  27;  of  1881,  60-62  {see  Appen- 
dix H). 

Worcester  County  Society  formed,  52. 

World's  Anti-Slavery  Convention,  14. 

Wright,  Frances,  10. 

Wright,  Martha  C,  18,  28,  37. 

Wyoming  Territory,  verdict  of,  on  woman  suffrage,  177. 


't^  f^-' 


University  of 
Connecticut 

Libraries 


39153028950634 


